Sagittarius: More than Gold
by Jenny DeVic
Summary: What would happen if Mitsumasa Kido chose to carry Aiolos back to Japan instead of his Cloth?
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: This was a gift for Cygny for SESA 2016. The story is finished but will be released in parts in order to make some grammatical improvements as well as tweak the plot in places.**

 **Sagittarius: More than Gold**

 **Prologue**

It starts off with a subtle crack that quickly jagged along the ground. The once solid earth beneath his golden boots split apart, causing his legs to spread farther apart than they already were. Aiolos stared hard, as Shura's hand was raised high, the technique already complete. Aiolos pushed his lip against his teeth, recognizing the smile that Shura flashed as the type each of them gave when anticipating the release of power. There was no time to fly. There was no point.

The bottom of his boots heated up quickly from the slight warmth to a blazing fire as light blasted him high into the air. The power was so great that he felt as if someone hooked his chest from heaven and yanked him as high as he could reach. He tried to use his wings but the force was too great. Suddenly there was a bit of weightlessness like he was almost floating. He opened his eyes to see the Greek sky. For a moment, he forgot about everything.

The near stabbing of Athena, the reveal that Saga had been playing the Pope for who knows how long, or that the boy that he saw so much praise in decided to stoop so low as to hide behind a baby to avoid being killed. For a brief moment, all that stayed in the back of his mind.

He was reading the sky as he would often do in the quiet of the forests. "Triangulum," he thought. Aiolia was terrible at identifying the constellations no matter how many times they practiced but he always got that one right.

He felt the weight of his body pull him down. The stars stayed in place before the large thud occurred. His body rolled from one ledge and then another. Dust kicked up as several rocks fell on top of him and in between the gaps of his Cloth as he made his journey downwards. He took his arm and attempted to halt the momentum before it felt only air. The world was spinning at this point as he struck the side of the cliff face before a large rock halted his fall.

His dilated eyes stared at the large clouds of dust that settled. A ringing entered his ears like water. He wondered if something was bleeding there too. He stared at his hand, now covered in various cuts and dirt. He wasn't sure how long he stared at it. Still, he tried to listen. "Athena" he tried to whisper but nothing came out.

Who knows how much time had passed as he fought to keep his eyes open to at least try and converse with Shura one last time before he dealt the killing blow. But nobody came. Instead, it reached the point where he felt a little lonely. But no Gold Saint would allow his assignment to be incomplete.

A small baby laughter echoed. Suddenly a bit of strength surged from his body. He turned his head. It was then he realized he didn't fall as far as he expected. Twenty feet was high, but better than the two hundred foot drop that he missed out on.

But was Shura at the top waiting for him? It didn't matter. He needed to get to her even if he was ready to slice him in two. He pulled his hand and began the long climb. Every time he grabbed a new ledge, he could hear something crack in his body. It was so hard to breath at this point. His hands trembled with each grab while his legs stung each time he put his weight on them. "Athena" he gritted her name, struggling to empower his hand to pull him up just one more ledge. He gasped as his head rose past the ledge and caught hold of the sight. "He's gone?" Aiolos thought as Athena sat there stroking a shiny, discarded bottle cap.

The Saint pulled himself up the rest of the way, still in shock of what happened. A weary smile crept at his lips. Either Shura missed him due to the dust and the angle that he fell, or didn't even bother to look over the side. Shura was a good fighter, but a cranium that was more pride than bone. He can imagine Shura's thoughts now.

 _Aiolos has wings; if he was alive he should fly out of there._

 _Aiolos is honorable, he would never play dead._

 _Can't wait to hear what everyone thinks when they find out that I beat the strongest Saint in Sanctuary!_

In Sanctuary, a Gold Saint has a stage called the Terrible Tens when they gain enough control over their techniques and light speed that they strut like peacocks wherever they go. He's probably running right now to tell the Pope the good news. Of course when the Pope demands some sort of token like his cloth or his handsome head, he'll definitely come back. He must make the most of his time and get Athena somewhere safe.

He turned to Athena as she crawled to him, staring at him with wide eyes, making him wonder if she was happy to see him or the reflective side of his head piece. He sat up and quickly muffled a deadly scream as the most painful sensation struck down his back, followed by the sound of grinding. He had endured years of pain but by the twelve gods had he never felt anything like this. Tears filled his eyes, as he contained his emotion, fearing that he would draw attention. He quickly jerked off his Cloth from his body and sent it back into the box. He then focused the cosmos that would normally fill and power it into his body to try and take away some of the pain feeling a balm of relief come over him. He reached down and picked up Athena. She smiled sweetly before finding more amusement in the fact that she could pucker her lips like a fish. He chuckled a bit before gritting his teeth. He would be amazed if any of his ribs weren't broken.

He picked up his Cloth. The weight of it was making his legs feel numb and his head nauseas, but he had to take it. If Athena has to fight Saga, it would crush him to know if someone used it against her. He turned to a rocky path ahead of him, using his old orientation skills of getting as far away as possible. The area was rocky with shattered rock all around him. He knew he was outside of the twelve houses but this was area where Saints and trainees would practice. He was still within Sanctuary's reach, but based on his experience, many hardcore tourists would come early in the morning to see if they can get any trinkets whether it be actual artifacts or left over soldier equipment.

He kept moving. His feet kept tripping over the rocks but he kept his balance.

As he hurried, his vision was getting very blurry, the jagged landscape looked more like beads of mud in the eyes of the Sagittarius Saint. He's lost track of time, the stars and the sunset swirled together as if he was gazing at a Van Gogh painting.

Suddenly his foot smacked into an unseen stone, causing him to fall down. Aiolos tightened his grip as he turned his body to absorb fall. He heard another crack and finally screamed in pain, his agony echoed loud enough to cause the crows that were eyeing his dying flesh to flee. He felt blood come up before spitting it out. Aiolos reached his hand to touch the child, relieved that his Goddess was not only uninjured, but was still fast asleep despite being obviously wet.

But there was a problem. Aiolos struggled but couldn't get off his back, the Cloth weighing heavily behind him. He lay there, waving his legs and arms limply like a turtle that can't get back up. He knew he was going to die, but like hell was he going to do so like this. He waited there for a minute to gather his strength. He took a few deep painful breaths before he made a final twist that rolled himself on his side, cradling the baby. Feeling relieved that he was out of his embarrassing predicament; he attempted to take a step only to realize his legs weren't responding like they could. They stung and felt more like two pieces of meat attached by his torso. He heaved as he realized his predicament. Was this what it was like for a body to shut down?

He reached for the buckles on his Cloth, but his bloody hand couldn't even unfasten them. He pulled desperately on the strap, but he was just too weak. He was already spent from his fight with Shura and the amount of travel he had done had whittled him down.

He looked down at Athena as she continued to sleep. Dreadful thoughts that he kept in the back of his head came streaming out. First they'll tear her from his arms and toss her against the rocks. They'll make sure he watched for full satisfaction. Maybe they'll take her and throw her on a spear. What if they bashed her?

He was well aware that he will die. The horror was that she will too. "I'm sorry," he rasped. He squeezed her tighter as if he felt his confession was not enough. He pulled her tighter as the sound of footsteps came closer. Did they hear him when he fell? He tightened his useless fist and widened his eyes in determination. He heaved as he felt his heart beat to the rhythm of the somewhat slow pace. He was a little confused. If they were that of a soldier or another Saint that was sent by Saga, they would be quick and frantic, not relaxed as if they were going for a stroll.

Aiolos swallowed hard. "Help!" he rasped sounding like he was eighty years older than he really was. If it was a person, he had a chance. Even if they were from Sanctuary, it wasn't like he was doing a good job hiding. He's in the middle of an open field.

A blob of a person appeared. Aside from his hair being white, his face was a large blur. He looked at his chest as a large object hung from his neck like an expensive camera. The hopelessness that filled him lifted. "This-is-Athena," he struggled to say. "Take her, save her." He raised her, widening his eyes, beckoning whoever this person was to take the baby. He felt a set of large warm hands brush against his as they took her.

Aiolos watched as Athena woke up and gave a small glow of cosmos. He heard a gasp of amazement. Perhaps the goddess herself was helping him make his story more believable. That was good. He's not sure how much more he could talk. "Thank-" he gasped but then felt his eyes grow heavy. Everything felt like it was shutting down. He can't move his hands. He can't move his legs. Now he can't even move his mouth. He was okay with that. He had done all he could. If his last moments were that of protecting his Goddess, than he felt satisfied. " _Aiolia, I wish I could see you grow up. Athena, I wish I could protect you into the Holy War._ " He thought as he allowed his eyes to close.

"Goodbye," he thought as he finally relaxed.

Mitsumasa Kido stood there in disbelief as gazed at the child. She was nothing like any baby he's ever seen. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was something truly beautiful and innocent about her. "He said her name was Athena?" he thought. Was she also a Saint, or _the_ Athena of myth and legend? He looked down at the young teenager, who looked no more than fifteen years old but had the body of a Greek statue. There was no doubt he was one of the Saints that he had seen pictures of but never encountered. His eyes turned toward his back "a Gold Cloth?" His corporation had secretly researched the Saints for the last five years, putting together bits of old Cloths together and now there was one in front, intact and shimmering like the sun. He walked over and lightly touched it. It was warm but not from the sun, but as if it was alive. "A centaur." He bit his lip. "Is it Centaurus or Sagittarius?" He opened the top and a joyful glee came about him. "It's complete!" He grabbed a piece and stared hard. "It's complete!" he laughed again. He's never been this happy since the day he purchased the corporation of Nutella.

Kido jerked his head as he spotted some soldiers far away in the background. He took his camera out and pulled it over his face, using the zoom feature to see that they were the higher rank of soldiers that were in the temples of Sanctuary. They must be after Athena and the Saint.

Athena began to cry, before Kido gently rocked her to calm her down. He had to get away before they spot him since he doubt he could bribe them with travelers checks and plastic. He reached over and grabbed the straps of the Gold Cloth before turning to the young man. "He's dead, poor man." Mitsumasa told himself. But curiously, he reached over and touched his neck, feeling a very weak pulse. "He's going to die." He reassured himself. The man looked like he was struck by a train and dragged from behind.

He placed the baby down gently before he began the task of pulling the straps off the man's arms. As Kido did so, he stared at the teen's face as it flopped back and forth like a doll. "He's unconscious and he's going to die." Kido reassured himself. "He weighs too much, he's done his job. He's probably thrilled about me taking Athena," he kept telling himself. But as he pulled the Cloth off one arm, he then stared hard at his face. "Just a teen." He muttered. He reached over and touched his neck. There was still a pulse as weak as it was but the way he appeared, he had a better chance of resuscitating a piece of sushi. "I can't carry both with a baby," he muttered.

Kido paused and looked to see the soldiers and turned down to the man. He gazed at the Cloth as the sun gave it a shine that looked it was a start itself. He sighed. He should grab it. Cloths were meant to be passed down. He could give it to someone and bada-bing, a brand new Saint. Logically it was the best thing to do. Most trainees, based on his research never lived past eight and here this teenager was at least fifteen or sixteen years old. He's an old man compared to everyone else.

But Mitsumasa Kido gave one last sigh. Perhaps it was the weather. Perhaps it was being in the presence of a glowing baby. Maybe it was the fact that if his first born were alive today, he would be the young man's age.

He looked up to the sky and stared at the last traces of the constellation of Cygnus or _**Cygny**_ _,_ as his two year old nephew would call it, was directly above him. "Perhaps it is a sign from the heavens?" he thought as he took his knife and cut the straps off the Saint. The Pandora Box fell over, causing a few pieces to tumble and scatter on the ground. He picked up the Golden Bow and put it in his side pack. He can at least keep a piece study.

He then reached down and threw the man over his shoulder before taking his other hand to grab the baby. He took one last look at the fabled Cloth and sighed before hurrying as fast as he could. He told the helicopter pilot that he would be out all day but if he hurried, he can catch him before he is done refilling.

Once he reached there, he gathered his traveling medic and had him work on the Saint inside the helicopter while he continued to hold the baby. As they flew high up in the sky, he looked down as the men who he saw earlier were carrying the Cloth that he left behind, were dragging it back to Twelve Houses. Kido looked down as the medic was busy plugging tubes and needles into the Saint, still unsure whether he made the right choice or not.

 **To Be Continued…**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: End of Dreams**

" _Lay gently. Remember, if you do it too quickly, the leaves will crackle and you'll lose the element of surprise_."

Aiolos watched carefully as his seven year old brother nodded accordingly, smiling at each grimace and silent curse he made as he took position. " _Good_." He spoke by sending a message with the cosmos to him. " _Now, use your bow_."

Aiolia carefully reached for his bow, positioning his fingers as the endless rhetoric of his brother filled his head. Without warning, the medium sized boar popped its head from the ground and took off. "Aww man!" Aiolia tossed the bow and sent out a wave of light speed punches at the creature.

Aiolos laughed as seven year old gave a toadstool a well placed penalty kick.

"How did it hear me! I was so careful!" the child cried.

"Your bow, I told you many times, don't draw your string until you are ready to aim."

" _Stupid pig_ ," huffed Aiolia as he folded his leather wrapped arms.

Aiolos felt tempted to counter him over the fact that pigs were smarter than dogs, but he could see in a rare moment, his brother's hot temper cooling off rather quickly.

"At least I got him. Why can't we just use our cosmos to hunt?"

"Because one, animals are naturally sensitive to the cosmos and two… a bow and an arrow won't send our pork chops all over the mud and our bacon in the canopies." He walked over and examined the torn landscape. He found a fairly sizable leg and lifted it up. "Come on, let's go eat, I'm starving."

The two brothers walked side by side through the woods until they came to their simple campsite of a fire in the middle with a shelter made from branches and leaves. Aiolos reached inside and pulled out his guitar and began to play as he watched his brother cut pieces of meat with their father's knife and set them on sticks for cooking.

" _Ai yai yai, I'm your little butterfly. Green black and blue, bringing colors to the sky. Ai yai yai I'm your little butterfly. Green black and blue, bringing colors to the sky._ "

"What song are you playing?" asked Aiolia as he turned the meat.

Aiolos looked down a little surprised by the question. He twisted his face. "I don't know." He shrugged. He doesn't even know where it was coming from and the sound felt too synthetic, as if it came from one of those electronic devices that the tourists carried around. He sat there for a moment when he turned to his side to see a little girl with short purple curls in her hair. The darkened clearing began to glow so bright he couldn't see a thing.

Aiolos and Aiolia walked by the stream and stopped. A large albino deer looked up and stared at the two. Aiolos took his bow quickly and shot a quick arrow into the heart causing it to fall.

"Alright! Way to go, bro!" Aiolos and Aiolia gave a high five before they ran to it. Aiolos waved his hand for his brother to stop. It was fairly large and a big kick from a buck was a good way to ruin a person's day.

Aiolos pulled out his father's knife.

" _Well look at that, I have never seen one this big. It must be fifteen years old. Son, why did you shoot it? Don't you know that it's a bad omen to kill a white deer? They say if you do, you'll live as long as it was on Earth._ "

Aiolos turned around. He thought he heard his father's voice, but he had been dead for more than ten years now. He returned his focus back to the creature and gave it a fatal stab to both ensure it was dead and to give it a little mercy if needed. He walked around its massive antlers and gasped as he saw a girl with a purple bob haircut lying next to it, sleeping.

" _Fighting love by moonlight. Winning love by daylight. Never running from a real fight. She is the one named Sailormoon!_ "

Aiolos ran around the trail. "Aiolia!" "Aiolia!" he cried as he shouted. His head jerked back and forth at the never ending field of trees.

"My hand glows with an awesome power! It's burning grip tells me to defeat you!"

Aiolia spun around. "Who are you? If you want a fight I'll give you one!"

" _Take this, my love, my anger and all of my sorrow! Shining Finger!"_

"What the?" Aiolia stood confused. He said as he wondering if the voice was trying to scare him or hit on him. Aiolos felt his heart rate go up. The woods felt like they were shifting with each step. In fact, he doesn't even know which part he was in. He was sure he was in the north, but he would see old landmarks that would indicate the south. "Aiolia!"

"Aiolia!" he ran faster and faster. His brother was there next to him. "Aiolia!" he screamed.

He jerked as a Japanese man with short white hair and a clean shaven face stood in front of him.

A girl with purple hair that came a little past her shoulders came out from behind his leg. "Come on," her voice distorted as if her mouth was full of water. "they said you are supposed to wake up."

Aiolos eyes blinked open. "Uh." He gasped as his eyes shifted all over the place. Several wires and tubes were hovering all over. He attempted to move his arm but it felt so sore. His eyes looked up at a television with a large cartoon robot on it. "Hospital?" he thought. It didn't seem much like it. There was nice furniture, a small child's table with a girl with giant buns dressed like a sailor on the front and piles of cartoon boxes next to it.

A Japanese woman with long straight black hair and a tiny hat walked in and gasped, dropping her hot drink on the floor.

Aiolos reached out his hand. "Huh hey!" he weakly cried. He watched her stare in shock before she ran over to the phone and began to speak rapid Japanese into it. "Where," he felt so tired speaking. He closed his eyes. He needed a nap.

"Young man, can you hear me?"

He opened his eyes once more. "Me?" he muttered.

"Yes, you. Can you see my hand?"

Aiolos grumbled a bit and opened his eyes wider. At first it was a swirly mess before his vision corrected itself. "Nice watch," he rasped, feeling as if he had the sore throat from hell.

The man smiled to the woman who dropped her tea earlier. "Very nice, reply." He turned his head. "What is your name?"

He laid there, twitching his nose, annoyed by the strange plastic piece that was inserted in it. He was a little hesitant but finally he answered. "Aiolos."

"Aiolos. As in the Keeper of the Winds from the Odyssey?"

He was a little surprised by this. He's been to the doctor before, but not one that brought up Greek mythology in the opening conversation. "Yes." He swallowed a bit. It was the first time he noticed that they both had very distinct Asian features and yet he has no trouble understanding them. "You know Greek?"

"You have to, if you want to work for the Graude Foundation. I never had a job interview that required knowledge in the language." He reached over and touched Aiolos' bandaged hand. "Well Aiolos, my name is Dr. Omai Yamanaka and behind me is Minami Kota, your nurse. We've been taking care of you since you came to us a long time ago."

Minami leaned over and gave a gentle bow. "I am very happy to see you wake up, Aiolos." She spoke in Greek albeit her Japanese accent was comparatively stronger than the doctor's.

Aiolos smiled for their kindness. He tried to talk but ended up coughing. Minami rushed over to the sink and came back with a cup with a straw. "Thanks." He took it in and sucked it dry, coughing a number of times as if his body wasn't used to it. "How long have I been here?" he spoke in a clearer tone. He watched the two turn to each other, exchanging Japanese and holding their fingers as if trying to calculate some large number. This couldn't be good.

"Two years, six months and five days," Minami replied.

"TWO-"Aiolos began to cough from raising his voice. "Two and a half years?" His eyes widened.

"That's right," echoed a voice outside of the hall.

Aiolos watched as a large sturdy man with silver white hair and a beard came in causing the doctor and the nurse to bow quickly to him. He wore a suit that fit him so well that he could tell that it was tailored for him. "You were very badly injured. I had to have doctors invent new ways to just to stabilize your condition. My name is Mitsumasa Kido. You've been in a deep coma since I've found you." He looked at his face. "Do you not recognize me?"

Aiolos shook his head. The moments when he was in Greece were so blurry.

Mitsumasa Kido raised an eyebrow. "What about my reputation? You know, the one who created the Internet, owner of the most powerful companies in the world such as Disney, Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and Nutella? The one who made Man of the Year five years in a row by Time Magazine? The owner of three fourths of the arms corps in the world?" He watched Aiolos shook his head. "The one who dated Angela Merkel?" He watched Aiolos gave a blank stare. "You Saints truly do live in a bubble."

Dr. Yamanaka turned his attention to the billionaire, "Mr. Kido, right now is not a good time to ask so many questions. He's just regain consciousness and needs a little time before his speech, digestion and other processes are running smoothly again."

Kido nodded. "I apologize." He clapped his hands. "I was absolutely thrilled to hear the news that I didn't think of those things." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his Tele-Cam. "I should return to my meeting."

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Kido. If I would have known…"

"Do not worry Minami; it was nothing out of the normal, just another day, another 1st world superpower begging me for the secret of my nuclear missiles. They may scream and plead all they want, but I don't see any good in giving them a toy that can eradicate an entire city." He spoke. "I wish you safe and hopefully speedy recovery, Aiolos."

"Thank you," the Saint spoke before following up with several coughs. He watched Kido leave the room, wishing to tell him that he did hear of him, or at least his father. He remembered his Mother telling him the stories of how his grandfather was forced to fight during World War Two until a crazy businessman by the name of Jiro Kido had enough. He created a bomb, filmed it devastating an uninhabited island and forced all sides to negotiate peace. "Anyone capable of that would easily gain quite a bit of power over time." He thought as he watched the nurse walk over to the door to close it tightly.

He laid there relaxed as the doctor and the nurse began to scribble notes from the monitors. His mouth was really sore. He looked on the side and could see what looked like a feeding tube and what looked like a bunch of diapers and quickly jerked his head away, his cheeks a little red at the embarrassment.

"Aiolos, I'm going to ask you a couple of questions. Tell me, what was the last thing you remember before falling unconscious?" asked Dr. Yamanaka as he held a clipboard.

Aiolos folded his hands. "I fell." Aiolos pursed his lips. "I was running from Shura with Athena. I…" It was so difficult. He remembered who was there. He remembered protecting Athena, but it was difficult to recall exactly what happened. "I met Kido… I gave her to him."

"Could you describe Shura and Athena to me?"

Aiolos took a deep breath. "Shura has black hair. A Capricorn." He closed his eyes struggling to remember anything else. "He's ten. Athena is a baby. Purple hair. Virgo. Cute, white blanket with two little red puff balls." He sighed. "Sorry, it's mostly a blank."

But Dr. Yamanaka shook his head. "It's actually quite phenomenal for someone who just woke up a few minutes ago after years of being asleep, and certainly a good sign that your mind is still intact. It will come back in time." He looked up. "What about during your coma? What happened between Greece and now? Anything stick out? Strange occurrences, dreams… memories… or nothing at all?"

"The woods," he spoke. "Just a mess of old memories with my brother and me in the woods," he knew there was something off since each time he was in the woods, Aiolia was a different age each time as well as some oddities. He thought he was in some part of the Underworld or even Limbo but went along with each dream. "I heard strange voices and music that I didn't know. I saw a girl with purple hair like Athena."

Minami came up. "Ms. Saori… Athena comes here for several hours each day. She would play you her favorite music, cartoons, and games. She even made sure to use the English language versions since Greek dubs are hard to find. She would stroke your hair and tell you about the world. She's declined every invitation since she was a year old and even helped out when it came to tending to your daily feedings. Mr. Kido has tried to take her shopping and parties but she refuses. She had to go to her piano lessons and left while I was out getting some tea. She will not be happy to miss out on this moment."

He smiled a bit. She would not leave him. There couldn't have been a greater honor than that. Of course, what will she think of him now? He couldn't tell, but he can see his arms were not as large as they were. He was afraid, but he had to know. "How badly am I injured?" he quickly spoke. He watched Dr. Yamanaka and Minami turn to each other the type of exchange two people would give when they silently debated who should be the first to announce the bad news. He should know, Saga and himself did the same thing the day they planted a soccer ball-sized hole through an old painting of Pisces Albafica.

Dr. Yamanaka stepped forward. "Are you sure?"

Aiolos felt sick. Not a good sign when a doctor answers a question with question. "Yes I am," he spoke trying to hide any hint of doubt.

The doctor raised his clipboard high, hiding his mouth and focused his arms on past notes. He was silent for about a minute or so before he found his composure. "We weren't sure what struck you, but hypothesized that it was two separate incidents. The first looked like a strike that did the quite a bit of damage, leaving several deep cracks on any bone in its path."

"That must have been Saga," Aiolos thought, feeling the heat in his back again. He had no Cloth on his back and jumping from a window with no means of blocking made it worse.

"I noticed some scarring, almost like the bones were trying to knit together, was this, _the cosmos_?"

Aiolos nodded. He didn't have much time. If he did, he could've laid there and ensure everything was properly done. He only did it quick enough to keep him running.

Dr. Yamanaka turned the page, "there was another that we aren't quite sure how to describe it other than being hit by a train that was driving sideways. There weren't many visible outside marks, but nearly every bone was cracked or broken. If you didn't use your… _cosmos_ … you'd probably be dead from your spine breaking in several pieces. However, there was a lot of internal bleeding and had Mr. Kido not found you so quickly, you would've died from that. To get you stabilized, my team and I had to devise several new medical techniques." He clutched his clipboard and looked at the young man. He still remembered arguing with Mr. Kido that he might as well treat him as some sort of guinea pig if he wanted him to live and fortunately for all of them, they succeeded.

"Doctor, how bad?" Aiolos muttered, trying to politely get the doctor straight to the point.

He sighed. "We need more tests to assess what we can do to help you. But, I can say that in your current condition, you may have some use with your arms, but your legs and your ability to walk are highly questionable. We have quite a bit of pain medication in you, and once it wears off, we will be able to find out."

"Thank you, for your honesty." He watched the two bowed and continue their work with adjusting the machines. He stared at the fan as it turned in the room. He watched it spin as a set of cords with cat heads that had miniature moons on their heads dangled.

Aiolos wasn't sure what he felt, he was too drugged to know. That was until Minami leaned over and pulled a cloth and dabbed under his eyes. "Wait until the tests." The middle aged Japanese woman spoke as she came to his side.

All three of them turned their heads to the door as a frantic knocking could be heard from the other side.

"Ms. Saori, calm down!"

But the banging continued. "Aiolos! Aiolos!"

Aiolos turned to Minami and gestured his neck over. The nurse understood and walked toward the door to open it up for the Kido heiress.

"Goddess," Aiolos murmured. It literally felt like yesterday since he held her as the six month baby. She was easily two feet tall with shoulder length hair, wearing a private school uniform with a crest on her breast pocket. She was a living breathing testament that nearly two and half years had passed since that incident. He watched as she came up and hugged him as best as she could, clearly experienced in avoiding the massive amounts of tubes and wires still connected to him.

"I'm so happy. I told them you would wake up," she cried as she nuzzled her head against the side of his face.

The fear and discouragement that the doctor had given him vanished in that moment. He was too drugged up to move his arms to hug her back. Instead he leaned his head and rubbed it like a cat finding that special corner in the house. "She's safe, thank the gods, she is safe." He thought. But then another came to his mind, "for how long?" He knew the power and determination of Sanctuary better than anyone. He sighed and pushed those thoughts aside. He's waited two years, six months and five days for this moment and he wanted to enjoy it.

 **To be continued…**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Favors and Wisdom of Athena**

"Come on, it's not that bad. You can't just ignore every mirror because you don't want to see it," spoke Athena as she tugged on his sheets.

Aiolos held the pink jeweled mirror with a large yellow crescent on the side. "I don't know, there are some things even I'm not brave enough to face."

"Please?" she begged. Her bright blue eyes turned toward his reluctant face before her angelic smile twisted into a look of determination. "Well as your Goddess, I command you. You keep saying you will do it but each day you don't."

"Fine, my Goddess." Aiolos took a deep sigh. He raised it up as slow as a sunrise. He bit his lip as he saw that his curly hair were shorn down to tiny bristles like a military cut. "My mullet!" he cried.

The nurse lowered her head, slinking down as if she wanted to fall into a deep bow. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you would take it this personal. I just tried to keep you well groomed while you were unconscious."

But Aiolos is unmoved as he pulled the terrible image away. "Now I'll never have a girlfriend!"

Athena gave a gentle shove to his leg. "Stop being silly, it'll grow back in a couple of months."

Aiolos released his pout and gave a small smile. He liked giving his Goddess a hard time. She was cute as a button when she was like this. Most children are at this age, including his little brother. It was a good way of taking his mind off the horror he saw when the doctor showed him his back earlier. It was covered in a mess of both the irregular scars he got from Saga and Shura as well as seemingly dozens of surgical scars from them working on him while he was unconscious. It looked almost like a large centipede straight down his back. He really hoped that Dr. Yamanaka will come back soon with the results.

"Aiolos, it is two o'clock, it is time to take your medicine," spoke Minami as she walked over toward a small cabinet.

He looked at her hand, his mind beginning to fill with the images of when he Saga would travel several miles on their days off to go to the candy store. "Minami?" he waited until she turned her head. "What am I taking?" he asked.

She looked down and began to use her finger to sort them. "These are for the pain; this is an antibiotic for an infection you had while you were still in your coma while this one is a vitamin to ensure you meet all nutritional needs. Is there a problem with this?"

He stared at the pain medication as it towered like a small mountain next to the other two. "I would rather not take it. I can ignore the pain, I have my cosmos and I'd rather rely on eating real food," he spoke in a rather curt but sincere manner.

She looked down at them. "Aiolos, I'm sorry, but I can't just take you off of this. Your body is used to all of this and we risk it shutting down and you falling back into unconsciousness if you just stop altogether. Besides, your body needs time to adjust to whole food again."

This was definitely not the answer he expected. He wanted to argue that he was a Saint who has dealt with so much worse, but he felt conflicted. He had lost two and a half years. He still keeps thinking of himself as fourteen when really he was about seventeen now. These people had taken care of him for so long, what right was he to judge them now after they saved him?

Luckily Athena came up to the nurse. "Could you chop all of it in half? You said that showed a great response after waking up. He is more than capable of a quicker recovery than most people."

The Japanese nurse nodded. Perhaps it was due to her being Goddess, but despite her being younger than her grandchild, the small girl's words and presence always felt warm and trusting but in an almost supernatural way that even manage to shake her firm stance as an atheist. Combined with the fact that Athena has never been wrong, she can see why any decision she made, even Mitsumasa Kido would do anything to fulfill it. "Would that work for you, Aiolos? Please understand that such an adjustment may come with many unpleasant effects such as nausea, headaches, tremors and anxiety. Are you willing to deal with this?" She watched him nod before she grabbed a pill cutter and sliced each one and handed it to him. She then watched him put them in his mouth and swallow before heading out to attend other duties.

"Thank you," Aiolos spoke as he coughed and drank more water. Talking was a still a little rough but was much better than yesterday.

"You're welcome," she then reached over for his plate from this morning and passed the other half of his toast. She watched him work at diligently, determined to get his body back in order. It filled her with so much joy to see his strength return with each hour. She was pleased that despite her Grandfather warning her that she was wasting her time trying to entertain him while he was in a coma, that he would allow her to fulfill what she believed was right. Although, some days she wondered what she would be like if she did spend endless days with her friends who went to parties and shopped all day for things they didn't need, but she was glad that her efforts were not in vain.

"What do you want to do now that you are awake?" She asked curiously. "Are we…going to Sanctuary?"

Aiolos paused, staring at her blue wide eyes. Apparently, her Grandfather didn't make it a secret of who she was, especially with him laying here. "No." he spoke bluntly. He knew if they tried to kill her as an innocent baby, they'll do it again now that she can talk, "at least, not the two of us."

She held her hands. "You want to see your brother, and make sure he is safe. He's a Saint too, but you're a traitor. You're worried he'll be punished too."

This took the Sagittarius aback. "How did you know?" 

"You told Dr. Yamanaka about your flashbacks about your brother. Since brothers are not allowed to be separated in Sanctuary, he was probably a Saint or soldier if you two were together for so long. Grandfather said he saw you being hunted down. You taking me must have made Sanctuary angry." She shrugged her tiny shoulders. "I just put one and two together. That's all."

Athena was supposed to carry great empathy and wisdom, but he didn't imagine she could deduce all of this so quickly. It was even stranger hearing something that an adult would conclude to with the voice of a toddler. He might as well be open since nothing is going to get past her. "I need to know he's okay. I'm-"he choked back. He's seen what happened to traitors. Sanctuary is a place where seventy five percent of children die by age ten. It was old and still held strongly to its Spartan values. It didn't discriminate when it came to crime. "Goddess," he muttered in habit. "I know he's not dead. That's about it."

A knock at the door caused him to startle a bit, "Dr. Yamanaka, here. Aiolos, I need to talk to you."

"Come in," Aiolos spoke as he turned a gaze to Athena to let her know they can talk later. He's been aching for the results since last night. The doctor came in, holding a clipboard and a pleasant smile. Aiolos felt his heart rush, sensing good news.

"Well Aiolos, your results are in." He walked over and produced an x-ray of his body that they took yesterday. "I got some good news and some not so good news. What would you like to hear first?"

Aiolos sighed. Why do doctors do this? They are going to have to say both anyways. He looked to Athena and decided positive would be best. "What's the good news?"

"You still have mobility in your legs and body. Before you woke up, we weren't sure whether or not you were paralyzed due to the amount of damage on your spine. Since you still show movement in your legs and torso, we think that with some careful surgery, we can repair your back to where you can at least be able to walk for moments of time."

The Sagittarius' jaw dropped. "That was the good news?" he thought in shock. "Dr. Yamanaka, I was able to walk from a mountain. I can move my legs," he demonstrated by moving his knee and wiggling his toes a bit, even though it felt like they were weighted down by molasses.

The doctor nodded. "I know and that is what makes your case very tricky. We think that your years of training and you using your cosmos in between the fights did help. The nerve endings, while damaged, can be repaired, the problem is that the spinal cord is cracked and fragile." The doctor took a picture of Aiolos' back and showed it to him. "When a person stands up, the gravity weighs down on the body. If you try to stand and walk around, you will risk damaging your spine to the point of becoming a quadriplegic _permanently_." He watched the teenager stare off. "Quadriplegic. It means you can't move-"

"I _know_ what it means," Aiolos interrupted. He pushed his hand against his nose and sighed. "Sorry." It was against his character to do such a thing, but it was so frustrating to learn that the best outcome would be to move around the world of Saints as a traitor who was as fragile as a glass vase. But, he should be grateful in that they are making every attempt to help him out. "So when is the surgery going to take place?"

The doctor sighed. "We are still determining that. It will not only take a while to map out what procedures we will be performing, but also testing and determining the right types of materials to be used since we first invented the procedure…two months ago. Then there is the fact that you will require multiple surgeries that require certain areas to heal in between, the whole process will last at least two years determining your recovery time."

Dr. Yamanaka could see the sunken stare of the Saint as if he was bashing his head with a hammer after each word, but at least Aiolos didn't know the dirtier details of the Kido Foundation going through at least thirty lab chimpanzees a day trying to hasten the production of a device that could replace a third of a person's human spine while maintaining the flexibility and athleticism needed for a Saint to function on a battlefield.

"I understand," he uttered to end the uncomfortable silence, but didn't want to make the doctor feel he was ungrateful. "Thank you for all the work you all are putting forth to help me." He then moved to lighten the dreary mood that fogged the room. "I guess I'm going to have to get used to the white walls and that painting of a bowl of fruit on the side there." He looked over and saw Athena giggling, her hands desperately trying to hide her excitement. "What is it?"

Athena turned her eyes guiltily toward the ceiling while clasping her hands. "Do you _really_ want to know?"

"You bet!"

She sighed and leaned against the side of his bed. "I had Tatsumi, my butler; contact a few interior decorators to fix up a room at the Graude Foundation for you to live in. It will have a small kitchen, your own restroom, lots of room for you move around in a wheelchair. It was going to be a surprise." She shrugged at her inability to keep the secret.

He smiled bashfully. "Aw, you didn't have to." They really didn't. The fact that there was a light bulb in his room made it leap years more luxurious compared to the typical Spartan accommodations at his House.

"Don't be ridiculous. You deserve something more than this. Plus, it will make it easier for me and Grandfather to come see you."

Aiolos nodded and smiled, but somehow he sensed that there was a lot more to this than his comfort. There was a purpose for his transfer. Based on the fact that everyone who came to this room was clearly aware of the cosmos despite it being seen as a mythological concept in most of Greece, would indicate that they would want to test his cosmos. However, he can't imagine such a feat would take too long and not worth giving him permanent quarters. If they were trying to hide him from Sanctuary she would've been up front with it. He doubted he was just over thinking it. Athena, despite being a toddler, has already demonstrated she had a sense of maturity that a natural born leader, capable of holding fairly deep conversations as long as it didn't interrupt her daily viewing of Sailormoon.

After another day of testing to ensure there were no serious complications from being in a coma, Aiolos was allowed to be released from the medical foundation as long as he kept Minami the nurse near him twenty four hours a day for the first three days to ensure an easy transition, a daily check in for the next week and finally, on call visits only.

The Sagittarius picked out a long sleeved red shirt with a set of black sweats. Japan was a very warm place, but he hated looking at his pale arms and the pounds of muscle he lost. One of the most difficult things to get used to was the wheelchair that they gave him. While it was comfortable and easy to use, he hated how short he felt next to the one and a half meter Japanese nurse. As he wheeled himself down the hallway, he noticed that everyone that passed him seemed to turn their heads slightly. He knew they weren't doing it as a form of disrespect. On the contrary, they were doing their best to avoid staring at him, but when everyone was doing it, he can't help but feel like he was taboo in everyone's eyes.

They reached the double doors, the sun shining brightly through the light blue tinted glass. He shielded his face the moment the sun struck his eyes, realizing how long it truly was since he had been out in the sun. Minami pulled out a set of sunglasses and he graciously took them. He hated training in the sun back then due to how hot the rocky training area got in the middle of the day, but other than the brightness, it felt warm and welcoming. He'll be glad when his eyes adjusted to the warm light once more.

"Would you like to wheel yourself or shall I push you there?" she spoke in her stilted Greek.

Aiolos mused in his seat. "I should practice some more but," he looked all around at the large buildings with billboards and seemingly hundreds of people running around.

Minami smiled. "It is beautiful, isn't it?" She spoke as she pushed the awestruck Grecian down the street.

Aiolos nodded. He's seen cities during smaller missions that the Pope had sent him and Saga on, but typically they took place in the shadier or abandoned parts. "Some of them are taller than the highest point of Sanctuary." He felt a little startled when a high speed train zoomed over the two of them, but then stared on, amazed at their speed. He turned to the Japanese kanji on a sleek billboard featuring a Japanese woman kneeling next to a katana with the blade tugging at the fabric like it was ripping her kimono off.

"That over there," Aiolos pointed out.

Minami nodded. "Ah, that is Yui Hashimoto. She is a model and pop singer. My son has most of her songs on his Tele-Cam."

"No, not her, the kanji," he pointed out. "I keep seeing it. What does it mean?"

"That is actually the brand that Kido uses for his company. It is even on your glasses."

Aiolos pulled them out and sure enough, engraved in gold paint was the same symbol. He thought it meant hospital or something. He looked back up and nearly every building, sign and even some of the Japanese clothing had the same kanji. "Is this like this everywhere?" he asked as Minami continued to push him down the sidewalk.

"Yes, especially in Japan. We call these areas K-streets because we too are aware of it as well. He owns everything from the medical supplies, the pharmacies, and even several food companies. He even owns the Tele-Cam you see on everyone's necks."

Aiolos looked around, but didn't see anything other than large cameras, typically used by dedicated photographers in Greece, hanging freely around many adults, including businessmen. However, unlike most tourists, they weren't really using them to take pictures, but to stare and press buttons as if they were playing a handheld game.

As Minami pushed him, he continued to gaze around and while he did try to take the time to absorb his new surroundings, it felt more like a game on how many times he spotted the Kido brand. He finally lost track when even the bento box stands had Kido stamps on them.

About four blocks later, the two reached a large square building. It had the Kido logo on it in bold black paint as well as the word Graude Foundation in both Japanese kanji and English. Unlike all the others that belonged to Kido, the outside was covered in faded white paint, as if it was here for a long time and was being repurposed. Outside the front door was a fairly tall and bald Japanese man arguing with a petite but equally fierce Japanese old woman.

Aiolos could feel Minami stiffen behind him as if to keep him in his place while things were being worked out. The bald man looked fairly well built under his black suit, but his cosmos was no different than any other non-user. "What are they talking about?"

Minami leaned as close as she could to his ear. "Mr. Kido bought the school since the original place was deemed too small. The principal is angry that he only gave them a week to evacuate."

His brow furrowed under his sunglasses. "The man could buy an entire city. Did he have to pick an occupied school?"

"He didn't. Ms. Saori did. She wanted the location because it would be near to one of Mr. Kido's _future projects_."

Aiolos noticed her tone dropping to barely audible toward the end as if she knew that she was forbidden to mention it. He looked back up at the building. It was far too big for simply being a house for him to stay at. In fact, they could throw all eighty-eight saints in there and still have more than enough room for a training area. He felt a slight jerk, feeling Minami return to her position behind him as the large man strutted over to the two.

"Ah, welcome, Lady Saori said that you would be coming here."

The Saint turned to see the bald man was next to him, offering a hand. "You must be Aiolos. I am Tatsumi Tokumaru, head butler to the Kido household."

Aiolos grabbed his hand and shook it. Tatsumi seemed to speak the Greek language fluently, but mispronounced it quite a bit. His name was probably the most butchered; making him believe that it would make more sense if he sang _Old McDonald had a farm_ before it. But it was something that he was quite used to, especially with new recruits. He followed the handshake with a traditional Japanese bow, or at least the best one he could come do with a broken back. He raised his head back up to see the butler nodding his head in approval.

"You pick up pretty quick," Tatsumi returned the bow and threw his hands on his hips. "You're going to like it here. No more muddy floors, sleeping in the rain and wiping your ass on leaves. I assure to Mr. Kido, Miss Saori and you that everything you need to make your life will be there." He said as he walked to the door and opened it up wide enough for Minami to push Aiolos through.

He gave a polite smile, but had Tatsumi not have his head turned downward; he would've seen the anxiety that crept around his face. He needed to heal, but he had absolutely no intentions of hiding in a corner for as long as he lived, especially with Saga on the throne, holding his Cloth, and the fate of his brother still unknown to him.

The heavy footsteps of the butler and the soft clicks of Minami's heels echoed in the long empty hallway. Aiolos shifted his eyes back and forth at the open doors, hoping that with each pass, the numerous cheap laborers that filled the rooms would give him a better idea of what Kido planned to do with him. One thing that struck him as odd was that none of them seemed to be getting rid of the old school desks and various academic materials as if he was changing up the school and not repurposing the building for office space or another retail business. If that were the case, it would make for an odd way to keep Sanctuary from finding him. All the stuff seemed more for primary grades. He'd stick out like a sore thumb if they wanted him to live in this place.

Tatsumi headed over toward a large box and bent over. "They're still doing some heavy construction. Better put these on." He tossed over a set of headphones to each of them.

Aiolos held them and gazed at the Kido logo embossed on each side. There was a few buttons in Japanese but watching Tatsumi and Minami put theirs on, he figured that he needed to use the blue one. At that moment, everything went disturbingly silent as they went inside the large gym. Men covered in dust and sweat was quickly replacing the floorboards on one end while another group was assembling large pieces of equipment. Then in the middle on the side was something he was very familiar with, the sparing circle. He didn't need to step in or utilize measuring tape to know that it was the same dimension as the ones that he and every other who was a trainee used at Sanctuary.

They reached the other side and passed through the doors. Aiolos watched the two pull their headphones off and he did the same, startled by the sudden rush of machines pounding away at concrete and nails.

"Well, here we are!" Tatsumi pulled a credit card shaped key and pushed it into the slot. The light beeped and electronically swung slowly in. "What do you think?"

Aiolos grabbed his wheels and began to roll himself over to the opening. He widened his eyes a bit. It was not just modern but it was futuristic. The oven looked like a computer, the refrigerator was more of a display case, while the tv was as flat as a sheet of paper . At least the floor was very open. "Wow, this is," he paused, remembering the trips he and Aiolia would make to one of their servants private homes to microwave popcorn. " _This is too much_ ," he muttered.

"Well you're going to have to get used to it. You think we're going to have you sit around with candles and an outhouse? Miss Saori insists upon it if you're going to remain here."

"She is _Athena_."

"She _desires_ to be called _Miss Saori_ in public, and if you're as loyal as you say you are to her, you'll start doing the same."

Aiolos nodded accordingly and while he understood his position, he didn't appreciate the large smug smile that followed afterwards. "I will remember that. Thank you." He took a quick look to see if he could side track the conversation. "Where's the bedroom?" Tatsumi flashed back an awkward look. It was then he spotted a small pillow and a rolled up blanket; reminding him that he wasn't in Greece anymore.

"I will let you get settled here. Right now, I have quite a bit to get ready before all the kids arrive."

"What kids!" asked Aiolos, but it was too late. Tatsumi had already left the two behind, leaving a small awkward silence. He turned to Minami. " _What kids?_ "

But Minami shrugged. "You know as much as I do. But you must remember that Tatsumi has served the Kido family for forty years and he is given access to knowledge and privileges that not even the siblings of Mitsumasa Kido are granted." She walked over and opened the window to clear out the strong scent of fresh new paint. "The only thing I do know is that my headphones were not secured properly while we were walking and I think I heard someone say that they only have a month left. Maybe that's when they'll arrive?"

Aiolos nodded as he set the thoughts aside and began to explore his new surroundings. Even though he still chopped wood to cook his food at his House, he knew what a typical house would look like and it certainly would not have a screen that would directly order food from any restaurant in Japan. He supposed that was how the Kido Foundation was bypassing what Sanctuary probably thought was state of the art surveillance of other Saints. It was no wonder that nobody murdered him in his coma over the past two years. Even the light switch took a little bit to get used to since he had to clap to get it to turn on and off. The two were both startled by a ring before Minami pulled her Tele-cam out.

Aiolos watched as Minami gave an annoying pout, the same one that his mother showed when she learned that his Father did something stupid again. "Go ahead."

Minami nodded and walked around a divider and began to rumble off in Japanese.

Aiolos rested his hands. He looked at a painting of a wall featuring a centaur holding a bow, done in the style of a Japanese ink painting. At that moment, he thought of the one thing that caused him just as much distress as the fate of his brother and that was the fate of his Cloth. He knew Mitsumasa Kido didn't have much of a choice, but sometimes he wondered why him? At least Athena could've used his Cloth for someone of his own picking, in fact with his injuries being as bad as they were, she might as well have done that. The only comfort he had was that he knew for certain that there was no Silver or Bronze Saints that were born under Sagittarius or anyone that would fit the requirements of his Cloth. He would know since he would've had them training with him and Aiolia a long time ago. It would probably take Saga at least five years to train a new one and hopefully by then, he would figure out some way to get it back.

It was late in the afternoon when the Saint decided to try the ordering screen. Luckily it was all in Greek and the descriptions on the bottom made it easier, but it felt so weird touching and swiping the pages as if he was reading a book.

"I hope you don't find our food, strange."

Aiolos shook his head. "I used to take my brother fishing and hunting all the time." He struggled to hold back a chuckle. "We used to make a game where we had to eat whatever we caught as long as it wasn't trash or poisonous. Aiolia was terrible at the game. We had to eat everything like turtles or snakes." He sighed quietly and stared a bit before turning back to the screen. "Let's try this place. Pick out whatever you think is good."

Minami kept looking at him. "Is the room not pleasing?" She looked around. "I can ask the Graude Foundation to tone it down."

"Oh it's nice. I-"he paused grabbed his hands. "I'm worried about my brother. I haven't heard from him in so long."

"Would you like a phone?"

Aiolos shook his head, "no, not that, through the cosmos." He could tell that while it seemed the Graude Foundation was familiar with the cosmos, they didn't know the true depth of it. "My brother and I share a strong link. We can communicate to each other through the cosmos as if we were in the same room at all times." He swallowed hard. It was a brutal silence that had plagued him since waking up. "I need to know how he is doing, but I feel like," he looks around at the room. "-I don't even know if he's alive, and I don't know if I can just… _hide_." Even before he was a trainee, his father had raised him to never cower no matter the strength of the opposition. It was a philosophy that he took to the grave when a gang was demanding protection money and he died defying them. When Saga and Shura attacked him, his father's determination helped push him to go as far as he could.

But his father was strong and he was once strong. He rested his hands on his thighs. He could already feel a difference in his legs like he was stroking the muscles of a ballerina and not the sculpted muscular Greek statues that he and the other Gold Saints were often compared to. It made him sad as he turned to a mirror to see his short hair and much smaller frame. He was almost unrecognizable. But then he turned his head and touched his cheek. "I'm unrecognizable." He mumbled with a bit of glee. He let out a quick laugh as he drummed his hands on his chair. "Minami, can you get Athena and Mr. Kido here?"

"I can, but why?"

"The hell!" gasped Mr. Kido as he slammed his tea cup down on the table hard enough to crack it. "I spent millions to erase your existence and the moment you leave the hospital you want to go back to Greece!?"

"Grandfather!" chided Athena.

This caused the color of his cheeks to return to normal. He broke the first rule of good business and that was to never allow one's emotions get the best of him. But this was a very dangerous game that puts his Father's atomic bomb to shame. "By staying here, you're protecting your brother. If you want, I have actual pictures to show that he's alive and walking about."

Aiolos calm looked at him. "I did see them. Athena showed them to me. But Saints, if he did earn sainthood, are trained to blend in with the crowd and not draw attention to themselves. Gold Saints are extremely rare. You're better off winning the lottery than finding a natural born Gold Saint like Aiolia and unless they do something stupid-"

"- _like trying to kill your Goddess,"_ chided Tatsumi.

The Saint passed a dirty look to the butler, his heart suddenly twisting from concern to anger. He typically gives a person a week before forming an opinion but after less than an hour, he already doesn't like him. "Yes, _like that_." He rolled his eyes for a moment before he turned back to Mitsumasa. This was a man who would never be moved by something like checking on his family. The Pope talked to him about people like him, and they always want something far greater in return for anything even if you wanted to borrow a pencil from them. "You seem to be keeping track of everyone at Sanctuary. What do you do, station people around and hope you get lucky? Maybe you'll get some soldiers, but your goal is to find the Saints. It seems like they go wherever they please but that's not true."

Kido raised a brow. "So what do you propose?"

Aiolos hesitated. Never in his mind could he picture himself like this. His eyes turned to Athena as she folded her hands and gazed at him as if reading his mind and urging him on. "There are a number of bars in various Greek cities. Sanctuary posts not just where the grunts go, but which Saints are scheduled to supervise these training expeditions. These posts look like advertisements but are coded not just in the wording but also the exact placement of the ads. There's also a bunch of false information that can take years to figure out what is real and what is not. These schedules are good for three months at a time and I know they'll update them in a week. You'll not only know exactly where they but who will be where." He hoped that was good enough. He studied Kido's face but aside from the earlier shock, it was like a terracotta statue in a kimono.

"We have more than enough surveillance. If you would have asked five years ago, I would have taken it up, but we are beyond that now. I don't need any more footage of the Taurus Saint harvesting turnips or any of you and the Saint of Gemini painting the same three houses in three different towns every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday."

Now it was Aiolos turn to appear surprised. How did Kido manage to move in a way where neither he nor Saga sense they were being spied on?

Kido folded his arms. "You want your trip? How about this? I want to see actual Gold Saint techniques in action. I will summon several of my scientists and engineers to come over; you demonstrate what you're capable of," he paused and can see the twisted division in the Saint's face but it was clear that he will given in, but desires a bit of negotiation.

"No video cameras." He paused. "You probably have stuff that can measure the abilities of them, but I," he stopped when Kido raised a hand to him.

"-a true fighter's techniques are sacred to him. Never to be shown off beyond ceremonial exhibition and are meant to be utilized, practiced or passed on." Kido nodded. Aiolos seemed to be fairly smart, raised to be lawfully good, honorable, but blind to those who can pose the same façade manipulate them until it was too late. "I don't know if my granddaughter has told you, but I hold a deep passion for the martial arts and will honor your request," he lied.

He was about to answer when he turned to Athena as she stood there quietly. He could tell she was deep in thought, by the way her eyes staring out to space while clutching her hands. She knew her Grandfather better than anyone else, but also knew what was best. He still remembered the one day, that Saga blurted out how foolish it would be that whoever became Pope would be foolish to trust in a little girl to command them. Maybe he should've taken that as a cue of what he would've done later, but he had faith in her. "My Goddess, what do you think?"

She looked up, with a cerulean gaze, almost like she was the heavens itself. But then she turned away and walked over to the lone window that was no bigger than an air vent. As small as it was, the moonlight shimmered as if she was consulting Artemis herself. She then turned to the two. "If you don't see your brother soon, you'll never have a chance again."

It was a reply that was far too sage-like to come from a toddler mind. He trusted it, but she still left the choice for him. "Alright, but wherever we do this, it has to be somewhere my cosmos won't be detected."

Kido reached into his kimono and revealed a set of samurai swords tucked carefully. He gestured his head to Tatsumi as if to grant him some room as he headed toward the wall and drew his sword quickly. Perhaps it was not the speed of light or sound, but it was still quite impressive, as he produced a three foot slice into the wall. He then pulled a cloth and cleaned the blade before he tossed it to Aiolos.

The Saint picked up the soft square sheet and recognized the shine. He turned to where Tatsumi was standing and there a small slit was made into the wall, revealing the same shimmer, "concentrated stardust." It reminded, no, it _matched_ the same as Star Hill. "He must have coated all the walls here," he thought. Aiolos closed his eyes to heighten his senses, realizing he could only go no farther past the wall. "How did he get so much of it?" He thought since it was very rare and the only outside sources of it aside from Greece was on Death Queen Island and Andromeda Island. He had a feeling that Kido must have smuggled some through Jango since Star Hill was next to the Pope's Chambers and he can't see Albiore allowing illegal mining to go on.

"Like I said, I spent a lot of money to hide you. There is enough in this area to blur a Saint's ability to detect it, but not enough to draw attention. I also had my engineers ensure that you have free use of it around this area for training, but there are parts that I have made extra secure." Kido spoke as he slid his blade back into its sheath. "You will demonstrate your abilities there in a few days and then when you leave on Saturday, be sure to bring Dr. Yamanaka and Nurse Minami with you to ensure you have quick access to medical care when needed."

 **To Be Continued…**

 **Questions:**

 **Jadej.j: Will we soon meet the others? And what will Aiolos think of his cloth being in the hands of Saga?**

 _Well, at the end of this, Aiolos will meet some of the others, but not much. I actually didn't have much about his feelings of the Cloth in the first version of this story, but when you asked about it, I realized I should've included more on it and added a small extra scene. He'll weigh more on it in the next chapter._

 _Thank you for all of those who are following this. If you have any more questions, feel free to add them._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Three: Expectations Part One**

 _Nine Years Ago…_

The two children sat on either side of the table. Ten year old Aiolos slipped his finger around the edge of his red bandana while staring at the door for his Holiness to appear. His eyes darted over as Saga had his head turned the other way with his arm bent at an angle. "Eww, are you picking your nose?"

Ten year old Saga whirled around, his eyes wide and cheeks red. "No way, that's gross! I was…" he paused and then showed him his neck.

Aiolos looked over and grimaced. "Oh nasty, how did you burn it like that?"

Saga sighed. "I noticed one of my servants was doing this technique with hot rocks and wet towels that caused his hair to have a nice bounce to it."

"Oh, Agavaoh? Yeah, he has really nice hair. I didn't know people with red hair can make it look so smooth and silky."

Saga nodded and continued his story. "I tried the same, but I noticed a smell coming from it and…dropped it. It hurt a lot, but at least my hair isn't damaged. Goddess forbid I get a split end."

Aiolos agreed and looked over. "Yeah, I can see the spot you're talking about. It's not _too noticeable_ … but I have some coconut oil and after this, you can rub some on those strands and it should bring back the shine."

Saga smiled and then returned his glance to the elaborate Grecian style white door. "He's taking longer than normal; I wonder what he's going to do today?" He spoke trying to divert the subject.

"Well he turned right, and I heard another door open quickly," Aiolos replied.

Saga wrinkled his nose. "His schedule said he was going to work with us on politics. He probably went to the scroll room to demonstrate the hierarchy of Sanctuary and the secondary duties of all Saints and politicians."

"A day of politics…" Aiolos trailed off as his finger tapped the edge of the dark stained table. "I think he went to the game room. That's right across from the room with the scrolls."

Saga gave him the classic _you're a moron_ stare and folded his hands. "Why would he do that? He has one of the largest collections of famous writings with him. He's been busy, this was his only bit of free time and he is searching for the perfect ones to use for us. He's fairly old now and wants the time he spends with us to be as memorable as they could be. Why would he go into the game room when we're only going to use that in our free time?"

Aiolos nodded. "That's what I've been thinking too, but he's been so busy, he probably started trying to find the right scrolls for us, got too tired with one of his _I'm too old for this shit_ … and decided to go with a how a politician acts. Since all the miniatures are all down in the Warrior's Circle, he improvised and got some stuff from our game room."

Saga stared at him for a moment. It was an outlandish justification but he knew Aiolos and while not a silent type, he typically saved something this elaborate only when he was ninety nine percent certain. He returned to the door and a minute later, there came his Holiness with a box of chess pieces. "Damn…" Saga thought as he and Aiolos bowed together before the Pope.

"Are we going to play chess again, Master? We kind of get it by now! The battle is like a chess board, you have to plan moves ahead or you'll lose _blah blah_ Sun Tzu…" bemoaned Aiolos as the Pope laughed and rubbed his hair so hard it pulled his red bandana to the side.

"No, not today, actually, we don't need the board for today's lesson, just the pieces and this!" he spoke as he reached in to a large side pocket and pulled a small scroll.

Saga lit up as Aiolos turned and poked his side. "You visited both the scroll and the game room?"

The Pope paused. "Uh yes… I did. My, I've never seen you two so excited over the places I visit to gather supplies."

Saga realized he did react a little too enthusiastically. "We were just talking about where you were at… and it seemed we were _both_ right." He signed and then felt the Pope stroke his head, knowing he doesn't like it rubbed as hard Aiolos.

"Nothing wrong with having two winners, now let's get…" he looked down at his glove and then took it off. He pulled off his glove. First he ran it through Saga and then back at Aiolos. "Aiolos, looks like you have a small case scalp.

The Sagittarius felt as if his gut got punched. "No way! I always add the right amount of apple cider vinegar and wrap it up for ten minutes before rinsing it out every morning!"

But Saga drew a finger, "yeah, but the other day, you bought the cheaper stuff that's been distilled with all the natural bacteria taken out of it."

"Saga's right, you might as well have used plain water if you're going to used distilled apple cider vinegar," the Pope frowned as Aiolos produced a sad look. "Now cheer up. After we are all done, I have a special blend of tea tree oil mixed with freshly pressed jojoba oil that I massage into my scalp for twenty minutes twice a day. That should fix it."

"Twenty minutes? Wow Master, that's so quick. Aiolia takes about two hours to get his hair done each day," mused Aiolos.

"Oh, I'm just getting too old, plus I tend to cheat by using my helmet to…" The Pope shook his head. "Okay boys, we'll be here all day if we continue this discussion. Let's go ahead with the lesson."

It didn't take long for Kido to gather his crew of scientists and researchers to set up a demonstration room for the Saint. Aiolos was still creating a list of items for Tatsumi to pick up for the trip when he received the word that he was to head to the basement level in a couple of hours. He only had enough time to do simple cosmos warm ups as Minami wheeled him to the elevator and even then he could tell his body was having trouble responding to it.

He used his hands and cradled a small ball of cosmos. He slowly lifted them up and down, causing the ball of light to stretch and bend as if he was forming a pizza. It took more effort than expected since he was already using his cosmos to block off the pain in his back and had a little trouble remembering the routine to maximize the muscles of his brain as well as his spirit, but it was all slowly coming back to him.

Along the way, there were several scientists. He noticed their eyes gazing not at him, but his wheel chair. It was the same look that was given to him when he was outside. It was a sign of pity and while he was sure they were being sincere, a small flame of anger filled him. He dropped his ball of cosmos and grabbed his wheels.

Minami was a bit startled when she felt the chair sped up but immediately let go, recognizing the same frustration that many experience when they are adjusting to life in a wheelchair. She hurried behind him, her low heels clicking on the newly concentrated stardust/marble infused tiles beneath her.

A large white circular room reminded him of a high tech coliseum, while it still showed the drywall tape on the seams as well as unused screws lying around, it was wide enough for him to do what they wanted him to do. The doors were so thick and heavy that it even caused him to grimace at the work it took to build them. He looked up. Sitting in the only room that seemed to be finished and furnished with leather chairs was Mitsumada Kido, Athena, Tatsumi and a grey haired man with glasses and a lab coat that he didn't recognize.

"Aiolos," spoke Mitsumada through the microphone. He waited until the Saint turned his head to indicate that he could hear him. "This is Dr. Asamori, lead scientist and researcher of our Saint Department."

"Saint Department, I'm not surprised," thought Aiolos. In less than a week, he went from thinking Sanctuary had been flawless in terms of keeping their secrets to finding out that there was a lot that the Graude Foundation knew that he didn't. But what exactly would he do? Does he study the habits of Saints, or something more? With history of the Kido family dealing in weapons, he hoped he wasn't going to try something foolish. He sighed before looked up. "Hello, Dr. Asamori." He looked around at the nine or ten men and women sitting behind glass all around him. "To everyone," it was at that moment he felt more like a lab rat than providing an exhibition.

Dr. Asamori nodded. "Hello, Aiolos. I heard many exciting things about you. Your rank is that of a Gold and at age fifteen before your coma, is that right?"

Aiolos sighed. He keeps forgetting he's seventeen now, but it didn't help that his body looked more like it did before puberty. "I got it when I was eight." He heard several gasps. Apparently the other rooms have microphones too.

"Very impressive, most Saints we've seen only start seriously training at seven."

It was those words that gave him a good impression that they must be secretly watching those who go to the international training grounds while Gold Saint candidates keep theirs so secret that seven or eight servants at the twelve houses were either disciplined or executed for trying to record and distribute their training secrets. "Most bronze Saints and lower ranking Silvers do. We have our ways to determine who does what and what is most appropriate."

"Astrology, time of birth and location, we know." Dr. Asamori took a puff from his cigarette. The people he had photographed and followed looked more like a cross between a nun and a circus clown. "DNA is a bit more accurate and more customizable." He could tell the Greek had no idea what he was talking about. Apparently no one has told him of Kido's hundred orphan children plan, something that he doesn't need to know about. "Back to the demonstration, we'll present a few targets with a red dot. To create a baseline of what you can do physically and what you can do, powered up, we want you to strike without cosmos and then the next set with it. After that, you may demonstrate your techniques and that will conclude this, any questions?" He watched Aiolos shake his head no, his always eyes lingering to Athena as if he wasn't certain. Frankly, if she wasn't connected to so much money, he wouldn't put his faith in a toddler. "Good," he pressed a button causing several dummies to appear, "when you are ready."

Aiolos stared at each of the targets. They were the size of a full grown man but lacked any appendages. He touched the surface, recognizing the warm rock and shiny glimmer. It was Rainbow stone fused with concentrated stardust. It was the same type that Gold Saints would train with since the Rainbow stone was strong enough to maintain its shape from their blows and the concentrated stardust would absorb it and produce a color to let them know how strong they hit. The harder the blow, the lighter it became before returning back to its original state.

He took his hand and massaged the top of his knuckle. It was soft and pale due to him being bed stricken for a couple of years and out of the sun. He wasn't expecting any physical demonstrations, he'd would think with all the brains and doctors that Kido had, they would understand, he needed to heal first before doing something like this. Still he pulled it back and smashed as hard as he could at the center, hearing the familiar crackle of the stone as the layers inside shifted. Unfortunately the rock didn't change much color, disappointing the saint a bit. Even if it didn't have any cosmos, he could have at least turned it green or orange and not blue. He was not trying to impress anyone, but what will he do if he ran into trouble in Greece?

"Aiolos, that was good, but please refrain from using cosmos," called Dr. Asamori from the microphone.

The Greek paused. "But I…" he paused. He totally forgot that he had a constant stream of cosmos in his back to keep the pain away. He closed his eyes and gasped as a sledgehammer worth of pain shot through him. "Shit!" he mouthed. That Vicodin pill that Minami kept trying to offer early made him feel as if he ripped up a winning lottery ticket. It wasn't just his back; it was now his whole body like he had finished taking a tour bus through the nine circles of hell.

His vision blurred and he could feel his long sleeved red shirt that he used to hide his body with soak up with sweat.

"Aiolos, are you okay?"

He couldn't tell who said it but he nodded his head. He looked up, there were only three targets. " _Not dying, it's just pain. Just fucking pain,_ after these, I can use my cosmos." He whispered, his Gold Saint training long ingrained from endless days and hours of sparring with Saga started to kick in. Sometimes a little self talk is all that is needed to get the deed done. "For Aiolia," he muttered before he took a deep breath. He quickly punched and kicked two targets ignoring how he did before he wheeled himself over the final one and gave it a good right hook in the chest.

The moment the dummies were pulled back, he allowed the cosmos to flow freely. His face was drenched in so much sweat that he could feel it dripping from the tip of his nose and the arches of his eyebrows. His turned to the chrome on his wheel chair. His face was so red he almost thought he was covered in blood.

"Aiolos, if this is too much, you can stop."

The Greek shook his head. "No." he took a breath and wiped his face. "I gave you my word and I am not the type that will break it that easily." He watched the targets lower back down into the floor while four fresh ones came out.

He carefully breathed, allowing the cosmos to flow completely around his body. He could hear several gasps in the small crowd and felt a bit more encouraged to push more. However, based on how much pain he was in the last time, he didn't dare stop the stream of cosmos that was blocking the pain to be interrupted. He punched as hard as he could watching the rock slide a little but not as much as it typically would if he was at a hundred percent. He used to make Aiolia laugh when he was a toddler, making them slide around as if they had wheels built on the bottom of them.

He did the same to the next two, doing his best, but he could tell that he was striking with the power and speed of a high bronze or a low-leveled silver. He stared at the last one and then glanced at Kido quickly, noting his folded arms as if he was fairly disappointed in the show he was putting. He hoped he wouldn't pull out after all of this. He wasn't trying to hold back and if he could show it, he would be frustrated at what he was demonstrating as well. He focused hard on the blood red circle.

He focused his cosmos into his fist rather than his body. It was terrible form and something that an unrefined first year Saint would do, but he was being graded on the power he struck with. He struck it dead center, watching shift half an inch more than the other times. It was better, but not good for his status. When he first started training, the cosmos was easy for him to master. He remembered all the times he would see trainees holding rocks and crying how they couldn't do it and he would go over give them a pat on the back and said to keep trying. He always thought they weren't giving their all, now he felt terrible for thinking that.

"Alright Aiolos, we will give you a five minute break before we proceed to your techniques."

He nodded as he leaned back and looked at his arms. It did feel good to use them other than to push himself around but they still ached from lack of usage. He took his hand, caused it to glow yellow and began to slowly move it up his arm. He could tell this time it was gold level. Perhaps when he tried to punch, it caused a lot of stress on his pain and caused his mind to divert more cosmos to that area than intended.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

The Greek turned up to see one of the scientists standing up and pressing against the window. The man's eyes behind his thick glasses were wide and his face was stunned at what he saw. Aiolos looked down and back up. "I'm using my cosmos to repair my arms. They're a little sore."

"You're healing yourself?" asked another eager scientist.

"How much can you heal yourself? Why can't you heal your back?"

"If you use your cosmos to heal, than why does Sanctuary import so much tea tree oil and jojoba nuts?"

The Saint was not used to so many questions, but he could tell by the tone of their voices that they weren't trying to downplay his poor performance but were genuinely curious. "Cuts and broken bones if I'm in a hurry. My spine is too complicated to do that. I actually use my cosmos to serve as a pain killer so I don't need medicine." He heard the gasps and watched a few more approach the glass.

"What about if you are concentrating? What can you do?"

He was surprised by all the questions by something so mundane. Perhaps it was because most Saints tend to do their healing in private to avoid appearing _weak_. Aiolos looked up. "Many things. If someone loses a limb, I can reattach it if it wasn't too long ago. I can mend ligaments. There was this aid worker that came over to Greece once. He worked hard and was told he needed to stop because of his arthritis. Typically, we aren't allowed to use the Golden touch like that, but I felt bad for him and after five minutes, his knees were in better shape at age seventy than when he was twenty years old." Aiolos bashfully chuckled, rubbing his short hair watching their stunned looks as they bombarded him with more questions at once.

A few even came down and asked for him to help with stuff like their blood pressure, carpel tunnel syndrome and arthritis, to which he happily obliged. If he was going to show off his techniques in secret he might as well bring about a little good in the world. The five minute break ended up being an hour before Kido redirected everyone to come back to their seats and finish the demonstrations. Aiolos could tell from their faces that they were determined to inquire more as soon as this was over with.

A large wall that looked more like a brick from the pyramids in Egypt rose up. Several targets were placed on it. He had a feeling on what they wanted to see next, but he was not looking forward to it.

"Aiolos, could you demonstrate Atomic Thunderbolt Attack?"

"How did you know about that technique?" he asked.

"We have our ways."

He frowned. Gold Saints were forbidden from using techniques with cosmos beyond their Houses. A servant or guard must have sold it to the Graude Foundation. In the short time he's been awake at the Graude Foundation; he's realized there was a lot more underhanded traitors in Sanctuary than Saga. He turned to the wall and clenched his fist and studied the pattern. It was a nine by nine array with several gaps in between them. This was not just about strength but about accuracy as well. He took a breath and pulled his fist. He didn't bother to shout out the attack. He needed to focus. He punched each one as quickly as he could. While he struck all of the targets without hitting any blanks, but it was fairly slow. He took about five seconds when his brother was trying could do it in a fraction of that time, which meant he probably was no faster than a bronze. At least he struck each one. His brother, would've just decimated the wall and blame the power level for destroying the evidence that he didn't bother to try to be accurate.

He knew they were disappointed. No gasps of awe. Instead there were a couple of coughs as the block lowered down. He's sure with the way things are going, they've seen someone without a rank like Marin pull it off far faster. He's not the type that needed praise to do his best, but he felt almost mortified after the poor demonstration of what he considered his first main technique and how far he has fallen. He felt his thoughts of going back to confront Saga, reclaim his Cloth, return Athena and right the wrongs he has done begin to slip away.

"Alright Aiolos, one more technique and then we will be all finished."

A narrow thick block rose from the ground. Aiolos watched it slowly click into place before hearing the door behind him open. "Athena?" he whispered as his Goddess came, carrying a long shiny box.

"Here, you'll need this," she spoke as she handed it to him.

He looked down on it, the sign of Sagittarius engraved into it. "No way…" he thought, instantly recognizing the length of the box. He clicked it open and gasped. "My bow? Where did you get this? You said your Grandfather left the Cloth behind!"

"Not all of it," she smiled as she touched his hand. " _Now, shine_."

He ran his fingers along its side and gripped the handle. It was the real thing. He knew every indention, every small scratch and carving along its edge. He knew its power. He gripped the handle with one hand and summoned his cosmos into an arrow. The Cloth made things so much easier as he formed a clearly gold level cosmos arrow with it. The difference was evident as the brightness illuminated the room like a miniature sun.

But that was only half of the intricacy of the Sagittarius Bow.

What most, even other Saints don't realize is that aiming with the bow is no different than a regular wooden bow except it lacked a drawstring. Not even the cosmos of the Gods could help them with its accuracy, especially with it made trickier in the fact that a person had to use the same motions as if there was a string on it. Legend has it that it was really the bow of Apollo, the same one that Odysseus used to kill all the suitors in his home to regain his crown, but even Saints tend to make up their own myths among them. Even if a person could wear his Cloth, if they are a bad shot, then they may end up embarrassing themselves when confronting a Mariner or Specter. Hopefully they aren't stuck utilizing it for the first time before a major battle.

The target was the size of a coin. It was too easy since he liked to entertain Mrs. Schafurwatt, Milo's head servant, by shooting a piece of thread into a needle head. Aiolos quickly brought it up and nailed it so hard that the rock slammed into the wall leaving an imprint causing the room to burst out in applause. He was about to draw a second and a third arrow through the hole he made when a small hand grabbed his hand.

"Aiolos, we need to put it back. This box keeps it from being detected by Sanctuary."

The Saint nodded. He took his sleeve, rubbed off a little dirt off of it, before laying it back down in its spot, brushing his fingers gently as if to extend his time with his old friend. He stared as Athena shut the lid and then followed her out of the room.

Several scientists were waiting outside in the hall with Minami. Many would start off congratulating him on the arrow technique, but most were far more interested in the Golden Touch. Aiolos didn't mind talking to them some more. In fact, he smiled at the thought that while Kido seemed extremely focused on utilizing on the ways of the warrior; nearly all of his brainy crew admired and hungered for the more humanitarian side of the Gold Saint. With the technological marvel they had, maybe they'll develop something based on the Golden Touch to help the millions who would need it.

He spent about three more hours soliciting them, healing some of their ailments and half way through, they invited him for takeout and some drinks in the former school's staff lounge. Once it was over, they were all called to meet with Dr. Asamori to discuss the results of his test.

"Are you sure you will be alright. You had so much," spoke Minami as she wheeled the Saint down through the darkened hall.

"It was only four drinks."

"It was four bottles of Sake. Sakazukis are the cups you drink out of, they aren't saucers," she chided.

Aiolos looked up, "they said they were just the saucers. They said you drink it like a bottle of beer. Would a scientist lie like that?"

"They are smart, yes. But they are not without their crude humor. They were probably curious and thought it would be funny to see how far you would go."

He giggled. It was a good time and made him miss the times that he and Saga would just quit in the middle of training to avoid missing Happy Hour and Karaoke Night. "I guess you are right. At least I don't have to drive or else I would've been in trouble."

"Well, now I am in trouble. I am responsible for your wellbeing. Dr. Yamanaka will be very displeased with my duty especially when I have to do your blood work tonight."

Aiolos raised a hand for her to stop. "Look, I'll take care of it. His office is down the other hall, I'll wheel my way over, explain what happened and all will be good. You just head back to your quarters." He watched her attempt to speak but he raised his hand. He watched her nod, before she left. He turned his chair and began to head down the other hall. He could see the bright light escaping from the crack beneath the door but could hear the familiar voice of another person inside there.

"… _we're doing our best but it takes time. Even if we repair it, at the very most, he's may have to have to get around with a cane. I definitely don't see him doing much fighting in the future."_

" _Damn it! I funded several of your research projects when nobody would. I sent you and all your kids to the best schools in the world and you can't figure out how to fix him?"_

Aiolos was not one to get emotional, but maybe it was the alcohol or perhaps the mostly poor performance, but it stung to hear him being described as some broken toy.

" _I'm doing my best! We are all doing our best, Mr. Kido! Besides, do you see what he can do? He can't fight but one after the other, he was healing us with no trouble. Imagine what we can do with that?"_

" _Of course I can! Seventy percent of my profits come from pharmaceutical! We'll go bankrupt if the world knew about it!"_

Aiolos heard a large thud as if someone pushed themselves hard into a large leather chair, followed by a long sigh.

" _Sir, what's wrong?"_

 _A heavy sigh followed. "I should have taken it."_

" _Taken what?"_

" _The cloth! It was right there, sitting and shining like the sun. I had a choice between taking one of the rarest objects in the world and a crippled and damn my heart I picked the crippled."_ Another loud thud followed. _"I'm such a fool. If I would've known better, I should have left him there and picked one of our own to utilize the Cloth. Instead, we wasted not just today but two years worth of valuable time just to get him with Japanese nurse following behind him._ "

Aiolos lowered his head. The following voices just blurred inside his head as he struggled to ignore them. Instead he focused on the grating noise of his wheels turning down the empty hall. He reached his door where Minami was waiting by his door. He wheeled himself inside the room and watched as Minami reached over and applied the brakes. Before she can help pull him out, he raised a hand. "Can I do all of this myself tonight?"

The woman folded her arms. "I am instructed to assist your needs, Dr. Yamanaka wants to ensure you don't damage-"

"Minami!" Aiolos raised his voice with a bit of unintentional force. He paused, realizing he may have drunken too much tonight. He took a deep breath and lowered his eyes. "Please, go see your family. I need-I need some time by myself." He looked up with his dark blue eyes. "You can come a bit earlier to make sure I'm okay and we make our six o'clock flight tomorrow. Okay?" He watched her study his face. He tried to produce a blank expression, but if she was like his own mom, he knew it was futile. It was at that moment, he realized he was taking out his anger on the wrong person, one of the few in this country who didn't try to lie to him or make him do parlor tricks. " _I'm sorry…._ "

"It's alright. I know I keep saying this, but remember that I will always be on call," she bowed and then walked down the hall.

Aiolos sat there quietly, his hands resting on his legs. He knew something didn't feel right with him since he woke up and it wasn't until now did he realize what it was, he wasn't the best anymore. Maybe he wasn't as competitive as Saga, but he did so because he knew that when the day the Holy War comes, strength was the key to the survival of his friends, himself and his brother. The idea of being dead weight disturbed him far more than being dead.

He turned to a ticket that he displayed carefully at his desk, eyeing the destination that was labeled on it. He pulled his breaks, wheeled himself over and snatched it. He tucked it in his pocket, as if afraid that Kido would send someone to take it.

 **To Be Continued...**

 **Author's Note: Had to split this chapter up, but I did add an additional scene with young Saga, Aiolos and Shion that was not in the original version which is why this one took a little longer. Second half should be up in a day or so.  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 3: Expectations Part Two**

"The cup is empty," thought Shion. He stared past the gold trim and brilliant white color at the small bead of tea that was so lonely that if he tilted the container, it would dry up immediately. He didn't think that a last minute activity would actually take so for the two to complete, but Saga and Aiolos were being so meticulous it was as if they were playing a game of chess itself. Instead, he tasked the two of them, to take one side of the chess pieces and place them on the scroll that featured the ranks of Athena's army. Predictably, the two picked the sides that they always did; Aiolos liked the white side since he could move first, while Saga preferred black so that he could create the perfect counter strategy.

The Shion thought it would take the two about ten minutes to complete. An hour later, Aiolos still hasn't laid out his pieces, while Saga kept going back and forth as if divided. Disturbingly, Saga kept interchanging the King and Queen pieces for the rank of Pope, making him nervous about the prophecy that he was to die at Saga's hands and send Sanctuary into turmoil.

Finally, just when the Lemurian was about to excuse himself for refill on his drink, Aiolos began to lay out his pieces while Saga finally felt satisfied with the choices he had made.

"I'm finished, Master," spoke Saga as he rested his hands.

"Me too!" Just as Aiolos placed the last of them with one hand and brushed the end of his red bandana off his shoulder. The boy's blue eyes briefly met Saga's before the both of them became fixated on the stone gaze of the Pope leaning closer to the scroll.

Shion studied the scroll that originated from a deceased Maiden's teaching supplies that simply featured the official emblems of the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Saints, the Pope and finally Athena. It was simple but it effective for what he wanted to do today. The way the pieces were distributed was interesting to say the least. "Saga, you have pawns and rooks for Bronze, bishops for Silvers, the Queen for Gold Saints, the King for the Pope and the Knights for Athena."

Saga nodded, "in every battle, Bronze Saints would charge forward and reach as far as they could. Because there have been a few notable ones, I didn't think they were the weakest so I gave them the best version of them, which was the rook. Silvers are strong too, but they must rely more on being a team since they are more specialists individually. The Golds have always been the strongest and most flexible of the three ranks. If we lose the Golds, we lose the Holy War. Even when all Golds have been killed before a war ends, others who are worthy of the title would step in and fulfill the key role."

Shion nodded in approval. "An excellent analysis of the history of the Holy Wars, I never really thought of that, but you are correct in that no war has ever been won without Gold or Gold-leveled Saints. What about your choice of the King for the Pope and the Knights for Athena? Are you saying that if I die, all is lost, but not the same for Athena?" The Lemurian followed his statement with a gentle chuckle, but deep down he was a bit nervous. To his surprise, Saga shook his head no.

"The Goddess has always been one to use a bit of trickery. She never goes head on, but she is always there with us. Besides, there have been times when Athena supposedly or was killed before the end of the Holy War and we still won. I felt that since how the Pope acted and where he was located dictated the battle, that he should be King."

"Impressive summary and once again, you are correct, there have been Wars where Athena did indeed die or pretended too." He quickly turned to Aiolos, "Aiolos, your pawns are in every rank except for Athena, you also have Knights for Bronze Saints, Bishops for Silvers, the Rooks for Golds, The King and Queen for the Pope, and … _nothing for Athena_ ," Shion spoke with a confused twist at the end. "Well, what are your reasons for this set up?"

Aiolos looked down. "I think that because Bronze Saints understand their place and while they tend to get killed first, they know their power difference and try to utilize everything they have from raw power to a bit of trickery. When you do have a Bronze Saint that is a lot higher in their cosmos, they tend to catch you off guard. I do agree with Saga for the Silver Saints, but I think Golds, due to our power are more prone to a head on battle. Not because we want to die, but we want to protect even if it means going against the strongest without any help. Besides, Sanctuary is designed for head-on battles for Gold Saints. Plus, you can always perform a castling move with a Rook and the King where the two switch places. How many times in the Holy War where the Pope isn't who he was supposed to be? I guess that's why I placed the queen with him as well."

This was not quite what Shion expected. If he didn't know who his future murderer would be, he would suspect that it would be Aiolos who would have the dagger at his back. He truly hopes that this lesson is the catalyst that inspires Saga to do what he does, but perhaps it is this reasoning that caused him to be suspicious and save Athena? "So, why all the pawns and nothing for Athena?"

Aiolos looked down at the board. "Pawns can be anything, except Athena. I didn't make Athena any piece… I think of her as the player."

 **Athens Greece: Present Day**

"Mamoru Chiba, let me guess, _Miss Saori_ picked it out," spoke Aiolos as he examined his forged passport next to the Graude Foundation agent that was assigned to stay with the private plane.

"Oh really? I guess Domon Kasshu was going to fall out of favor sooner or later."

The Sagittarius chuckled as he began to mutter the information to ensure he could roam around confidently saying he was from Johannesburg, South Africa with the Disney-Kido tour group, who left a day early and was just killing time by site seeing some of the more local villages. He had a feeling that the thing he risked messing up on was that his birthday was February 22, thus making him a Pisces. He bent the page and examined the small emblems and the pages. "This is pretty well made!"

"It should since it came straight from the government itself," laughed the agent.

Aiolos tried to laugh along, but all that came out was an uncomfortable chuckle since it was another example of the far reach of the Kido Foundation. He waited over as Dr. Yamanaka, his wife, and Minami with her husband came out all dressed down with oversized hats, and cotton shirts, basically the type of stuff they would typically wear outside their scrubs and doctor coats. It would be easier for him to blend in if he wasn't going alone, plus if he had any complications, his doctor would at least be on the same continent.

Dr. Yamanaka waved to the teenager and looked down. "How does it feel to be back?"

He felt a nice breeze, the scent of earth and grass was far more pleasant than the staleness of the urban streets of Tokyo, "quite nice, it actually feels cooler here than I remember."

"Japan does get quite humid around this time." He took his camera and like any tourist of Greece, snapped a picture of the landscape.

"You think you're going to be alright on your own? Are you sure no one will recognize you?" spoke Minami as she adjusted her oversized sunglasses.

"Hey, I'll be fine! You two need to relax, I've been on _way_ deadlier missions. It's just going to be for two hours, there's nothing to be worried about. I'm going to go to a couple of towns and I'll be right back." He could tell that they were a still a bit uneasy, but his guess was that it was due to them watching over his unresponsive body for the last two years.

"Could you at least take a Tele-Cam with you?" she asked.

Aiolos bit his lip. "I've only used a camera-camera." He didn't even know they existed until he woke up. "Besides, aren't they expensive?"

The doctor reached into his bag and pulled out a large camera. He then released a handle and flipped the top half of the camera open to unveil a numerical pad, "you'll figure it out. This is my old one. Just enter the numerical code 4831 and you can use it to play games, and surf the K-Net. I even have permission to add web pages. Just be careful what you upload. I accidently put a picture of my cat hugging my dog and was nearly fired."

Aiolos raised a brow. "Why would he nearly fire you over that? It was an accident."

The doctor sighed. "Because, Mr. Kido believes that the K-Net is a vital communication and data tool that should only be used for research, learning and the news. He says that if people see one cute cat picture, it could create a slippery slope of users reducing K-Net to nothing but funny pet pictures and bad grammar." He rolled his eyes and handed the Tele-Cam over.

Aiolos looked it over and entered the code. He wasn't too fond of the tiny screen and frankly, he would think that it would be more practical to turn a phone into a camera and not the other way around. He took a picture and then hung the Tele-Cam around his neck. He waved goodbye and then began to wheel his way toward his destination.

The first part was fairly relaxing. Japan was clean, friendly and extremely modern. But he missed the wide open fields, tall mountains and the various Sanctuary foot soldiers, masquerading their training as actors who were paid to reenact Spartan training. Nostalgia crept into his eyes as laughter escaped his lips as an elderly couple kept bugging the Captain to redo the phalanx technique so they could get everyone in the shot.

Some Saints didn't like putting on a show. He remembered how Camus would train at two in the morning to ensure he was gone before the shops opened. But he and Saga used to have a lot of fun snapping family photos, letting children wear their helmets or posing in front of a broken prison gate. It was one of the things that made him sad when it was time to accept his Cloth and the two had to take a less obvious role where they painted the same three houses for the next two years.

So far, no one had noticed his presence. His skin was still pale from him being indoors for two years, his muscles had degraded to make him look about half his size and Minami had shorn off his magnificent mullet in an attempt to keep him _groomed_ while he was in a coma. Anytime someone looked at him, it was to both smile and wave for his camera or they rolled their eyes and throw up a half-hearted peace sign. He spotted Hercules Algethi standing among the soldiers. His silver hair, dark skin and massive muscles made him extremely easy to recognize. It was also a fine opportunity to examine if he would be able to truly go into town since the African was considered a mid-grade Silver Saint and was the type of Silver who would carefully read the cosmos of others to ensure he put a dignified performance in front of the elite.

Aiolos took a breath as he confidently wheeled his chair over and asked if he could have a picture. Surely enough, Algethi didn't even give it a second thought as he raised his spear followed by the others who held the pose for as long as it took for him to click a picture, not caring if everything was centered or not. He waved his hand and waved goodbye. He then said _thank you_ mimicking the broken accent that Tatsumi would use on him with the Hercules Saint politely correcting him.

Things seemed to be going well until he reached the crossroads. A groan followed as the smooth dirt trail was far rockier than he had remembered. If he could walk, it would be no problem, but by the high heavens of Mount Olympus, it was annoying to bump into a rock that he couldn't roll over and was forced to shift back and navigate around it. Worse than that, it was drawing a lot of unnecessary attention. He had to tell a number of people that he was fine and while it was nice to see so much compassion, he knew that the more people that come up, the more difficult this mission becomes. The troubles didn't stop there, the closer he got to Sanctuary Town, the more difficult the road became. Large discarded broken rock from Trainees practicing their cosmos was all over the place. He finally reached the brick road where his wheels glided fairly easily. He felt his heart beat a little easier as small comfortable buildings and shops lined the sides and soldiers and tourists were blended together in waves of colorful clothing and armor.

The first thing he did was to spend some money. He knew first hand that one of the red flags that tower guards keep an eye on are outsiders who just went straight out of the tourist district. He bought some street food and stuffed black olives. He ate it all and then headed for the bakery. There he bought a couple of boxes of baklava, his favorite pastries and a few loaves of bread as if he was the type who needed to bring back a gift for everyone.

He moved through the crowd with ease, most likely to do with his wheelchair, onto the next street. There he viewed some vases that were remarkably similar to the type that the Sanctuary archaeologists would pull out of the Pope's storage room in an effort to clear space for him as well as deliver to the public their thirst for sacred artifacts. He decided against any of those since the man wanted far too much for something that wasn't even painted that well. As he turned away from the merchant he noticed a figure in a long black cloak sitting on the curb with an empty cup in their hand. Outsiders would dismiss them as a pan-handler. He knew better and quickly reached down, pulled out a small map, and pretended to muse over it.

He carefully shifted his eyes in a way that they remained hidden under the bill of his hat. They were clearly thin, but that basically knocked off like four Saints off the list. The figure in black calmly walked away, causing a small breath to escape his lips in relief. Perhaps Sanctuary didn't suspect him. He continued viewing his map and made his way to a small music shop. As he examined pan flutes, he kept at an angle where he could carefully view the outside. The key was not to watch for Saints but for the foot soldiers. They were not as discrete and if something happened, they would be the first to be running about, getting into position to block off all exits. He waited and nothing happened. He sat there, trying to calm his thumping heart.

He was safe as long as he was still on the streets where the tourists frequented, and that is where he should stay. He paid for a small pan flute and then moved on with the next step in his plan. He navigated himself down the street and onto an old wooden board filled with advertisements about gladiatorial exhibition matches where trainees were instructed to put on a _no blood_ show. Luckily for him, these demonstrations were very close to where he needed to go. He took a piece of paper, wrote the time and location, and stuffed it in his pocket. He then began to move away from the crowd and stared at the less crowded area. Except for a few photographers who choose to use their cameras for pictures and not as a telephone, nearly everyone there was with Sanctuary.

He turned to his reflection in the store window. Ever since seeing that black cloaked figure, he began to question if his looks would really get him through this. His brown hair, as short as it was does maintain the same color. He still has father's blue eyes and while Athena still clutched his red headband, he still wore a red hat. He put his hand on his head. "You're over thinking this." He told himself. He rolled into the street and headed to the Three Women and an Eyeball Pub, entering as a man held the door for him.

The place hasn't changed much. It was a building that had been around since the eighteenth century, with several mythological events painted and retouched on the walls, various wooden chairs and the same uneven table that had several napkins tucked under the legs to keep it from wobbling. There weren't many in the place since most won't visit until after their shift was done for the day. He spotted the bartender as he was busy watching the only television permitted in a public establishment. He recognized him as Spiros, a barkeep who missed the birth of three of his children to avoid missing a day of work."

He came up to the bar and waved a hand.

Spiros looked down and brought himself forward. "Welcome. Need a menu?"

Aiolos pulled his hat tighter, "just tell me your specials." He could see the man was examining his face.

"Well," he raised his hand, "we have The Manigoldo, Rhada on the Rocks," he bit his lip. "We have a tourist special, the Zodiac Sampler for half off."

Couldn't beat a deal like that. "Ah, I'll take the Zodiac Sampler then."

"Splendid." He fired up the taps and brought out each quarter pint cup under each one. When he was done, he carried the tray over to a table that Aiolos picked out and pulled a chair out for him.

Aiolos looked at magnificent mixture of Ales and lagers. The legend was that the night before Hades attacked, all twelve Gold Saints came over and the owner created the special on the spot. He reached over and pulled out the money and was about to hand it to him as well as a generous tip. To his surprise, the bartender stepped back and placed his hand on his head.

"Ah, sorry, we've been dead all day. Could you show me your passport? No offense but many of the locales like to take advantage of me."

Aiolos didn't flinch, but his hand cautiously reached into his pocket. He pulled it out and passed it to him. He knew that Spiros, even in his sixties, was as sharp as ever. He wouldn't forget something like that, not to mention that the deal was too good to be true. He placed his hand around his Pale Aries, trying to put on a carefree face as Spiros took a fairly long time to check the country of his origin.

Spiros placed his hand on his chin and raised an eyebrow. "Oh… Pisces," he then passed the passport back. "Thank you," he spoke with a bit of uncertainty while reaching for the money.

He was wary of other Saints but he didn't think of all the locales in the town. Aiolos took a long sip. Again he waited, expecting two foot soldiers at each window, six guards and a Captain would be at the door. He finished his drink and looked up to see that Spiros had returned to a football match between Portugal and Germany. The law of Sanctuary was that harboring a traitor was to join him in death even if they would trespass for even an hour. But of course, anytime he and Saga would try to get the bar keeper to join them in politics, he would remark to them that _he was more fascinated in how his farts smelled that day than the shit that Gigars had to spew_.

Aiolos finished off his Hard Gemini and then his Taurus Ale. He went over to the bulletin board and studied it. As he mentioned to Kido, every ad from the placement to the language used was a code for Sanctuary on how things are, where everyone needed to be from the advertisements on selling junk to the lost cat picture. The first thing he checked out were the finances and surely enough, everything was not only in the black but very profitable despite the army's size increasing five times over. Saga was a master at the books, something that he found a bit difficult and sadly the former Pope was terrible at. Back then, rumors even circulated that if the Pope didn't pick out a new successor, Sanctuary will have to go through the next Holy War without any foot soldiers or guards due to a lack of payment. Even if they weren't good for fighting a Mariner, they were important in ensuring protection, evacuation and subduing panic while the Saints fought on.

He turned to the duties section. He carefully examined the list of names. Many of the Captains that he and Saga had talked about being corrupted and ineffective were either off the board or demoted while those that they thought were overlooked were in fairly high positions. In terms of crime, it was much more peaceful with a list that was a fraction of the size it was a couple of years back. If Saga was still wearing the dead Pope's robes, he was doing a hell of a good job despite the means he sought to gain the position.

"Looking for something to do? We have Karaoke Night tomorrow."

A smirk escaped Aiolos, admiring the man's memory and feeling gratitude at his reluctance to turn him in despite the problems it could cause. There was a small tug from his instincts, one that he has trusted for a long time, that made him think that the bartender's words were more than just a nudge of nostalgia. "I'm leaving tomorrow, is there anything worth seeing here today?"

There was a silence that followed as Aiolos continued to look at the board. "If you're bold, take the road outside, head all the way east. The path is rough, but it may be worth your time."

He knew it, there was something more. Aiolos briefly turned to him, watching as he started heading off to the kitchen. He turned back and headed to his table to grab the Sisyphus Cider Mix, his favorite of the bunch, and took a small sip to take in the familiar flavor. "But that's the complete opposite of where I want to go," he thought. According to the board, his brother will be on the west side. He chugged the other drinks, one after the other as he tended to do on moments like this. He wheeled his way over to the tip jar and dropped the same amount that he and Saga always left him before leaving the establishment.

He took his hat and pulled the brim to keep the sun from his eyes, "east or west?" The West had his brother and a decent amount of tourist traffic for him to move around with ease. However, the East nearly composed of only those from Sanctuary due to how rough the area looked to the average outsider. There were no objects of interest, no shops and he drew of attention from the wheelchair.

He should stick to his original plan, but everything in his mind was spinning the other way. The decision wouldn't be so damn hard if he could use lightspeed and run the fucking mile that it took to get there and back before he could be even be detected.

He reached into his bag and looked inside. Athena gave him _a lot_ of money for a tourist trip. People would probably think he came there to buy a house with what he had. Bribery was a direction that he will never take, so what else could he do?

Half an hour later, two soldiers stood by the street, allowing their minds to drift off until they spotted a man with a red sweater on, riding a grey horse with a large leather wrapped metal object to one side of the beast and a sign on the front. "Master Asia's Horse Trails?" murmured one guard before he turned to his friend.

The other soldier shrugged as well. "Must be new," He watched as the teenager was busy snapping pictures on top of his steed with his fancy Tele-Cam. "Oh great…" the man muttered as the man pulled his horse toward them and raised it up. He groaned as he and his friend gave half hearted smiles while holding their spears in a pose that was dramatic enough for him to take in just one take.

Aiolos snapped the picture and gave a thumb up before taking the reins and gesturing Rain to move on. The horse was old, its long mane hasn't been combed in years, and the gait alone could tell him that he had some form of arthritis. While the man told him that he was too old to be pulling carts anymore, he was strong enough to carry him where he needed to go. Besides, it felt good to spare the poor animal from the meat factory.

He enjoyed not having to look up at everyone and the horse proved extremely useful in stepping around the rocks. He took several pictures along the way, but kept a rapid pace. It was very hot today and it seemed many soldiers were taking their break at high noon making the journey a whole lot easier.

The few did encounter seemed like they didn't like a tourist wandering around this way but could do nothing about it. Soon, the amount of soldiers around thinned out and there were no more to be seen. He knew he was outside the city limits and familiar sights began to take hold. In the distance he could see thousands of broken rocks with sparse skeleton trees dotting the ruins. He looked up and could see the large steep mountain side that kept the Twelve Houses hidden.

This was where Kido found him.

He jerked the reins, surprising the horse and forced an unpleasant snort to follow.

A skeleton, wrapped in chains with small strips of clothing hanging loosely upon its bones, hung freely from a barbed wire tied around its neck and onto the thick dusty limb. He guided the reluctant horse over, knowing that the poor creature was disturbed, but it was just too rocky for him to use his wheelchair at. Around the neck were the remains of a long red tattered headband that had slipped after the animals had picked the flesh. He knew that despite the lack of flesh, someone carved the word traitor so hard into their forehead that it scrapped the skull beneath.

" _Goddess…_ " It felt like he was staring at _what could have been_. He wondered how Sanctuary reacted, and he can see what Saga did about it.

Saga found another person, dressed them up and sent him to the mob to die. He stared at the skull, its head turned toward the heaven as if pleading for mercy, knowing that they were innocent of everything. He reached over and rested his hand upon it. " _I'm so sorry_."

He stood there for several silent minutes, his eyes shut, his mind promising this lost soul that when all was right in Sanctuary, that he would ensure that he be given peace. He opened his eyes and stared onward.

It was then he noticed, that this skeleton looked smaller than a full grown adult.

That was when a horrific idea came to him. "Aiolia?" he muttered. "Oh no… no… no…" he murmured, nearly falling off his horse. What if this was the reason Spiros mentioned coming here? He remembered seeing Aiolia's name, but what if it was really someone else over there much like how an eighth of all trainees were named Heracles? What if Aiolia is not Aiolia? The Pope is not the Pope so could it really be that far off? He felt his stomach give out, spilling all the alcohol he drank, surprising the horse and causing it to neigh louder than before. He jerked the reins and tried to force the animal into a gallop only for it to slow back down to a trot before it halted. "Damn it!" he cursed. He pulled and pulled but the horse just froze into place. It was then he realized that in his anger, he had stopped hiding his cosmos. He relaxed a bit, and watched Rain start to move once more. Animals were sensitive to cosmos, and if they weren't used to it, can cause them to freeze up and become useless.

"Hey!"

Aiolos watched a couple of guards approaching him. Even with an injured back, he could easily take them out, but all it will do is draw unnecessary attention, especially from those on the other side of the mountain. Aiolos grabbed his camera and waved to them. "Hi, are you with…"

"Cut the shit. What are you doing all the way out here?" spoke the taller and stronger of the two.

He stayed quiet. "Horseback riding, the view is so _amazing_ here." He could see by the look on his face that he wasn't buying it. "This isn't private property, is this?"

The guard folded his arms. "Only certain people are allowed here. Unless you work here, you're not supposed to be here. Are you telling me, everyone let you through?" He brought his gloved hand to the stubble on his chin and spotted the slight glint of the wheelchair, "Axion, grab the cripple's reigns," he looked to Aiolos. "You're coming with us!"

Aiolos pulled the horse back. They take him to the Visitor's Bureau, they'll have every Saint surrounding him the moment they check his cosmos. "Hey, I'm not going anywhere, I am a citizen of," he paused. "South Africa!" He then turned as one of the soldiers took the bottom of his spear and shoved it at him, trying to knock him off. The Saint easily dodged and grabbed the hilt and disarmed him. He clenched the staff, his eyes meeting the two men. His fighting instincts urged him to impale one of them and use the horse to just run over the other. But as a Saint who was training to be the Pope, he knew they were just doing their jobs and admire the fact that they were able to react to suspicion. They were clearly loyal, but picked the wrong person to mess with. His grip turned to a tremor. " _Damn it_ …" he muttered. Did he really have to sink to Saga's level and kill a couple of innocent men just to hide his secret?

"What the hell is going on here!"

Aiolos looked up as the figure in the black cloak leapt in between the two. He watched as they threw their hood off, revealing vivid red hair and a silver mask that gleamed with the light of the sun.

The armed soldier threw his hand upon his chest. "This person is trespassing. We were trying to bring him to be questioned when he tried to kill us!"

The Amazon looked up at the figure. He clenched the spear in a manner that would allow him to strike the guard on one side while still placing him in position to impale the one in front. "I'll take him. Go back to your station and never speak of any of this again."

"Why is he here? Why are you here! Aren't all Amazons supposed to be near the lake today?" the soldier demanded.

Aiolos watched her take her hand and rubbed the top of his thigh lovingly. He supposed she was trying to make them think that they were in love, except due to his injured back, it felt more like pins and needles.

"I _said_ … you will speak nothing of this again. If you talk, I will talk."

Aiolos watched her take the spear out of hands and produce a belt from under her cloak. It was then he noticed that one of the men indeed was missing it along with their cheeks turning a bright red. No wonder they were alone together. They hurried away, much to his relief. He wanted to thank her but instead, she pulled her hand away, clearly not wanting to make him anymore uncomfortable.

She brought a finger to her metal lips, her deception not quite complete. "You are _clearly_ lost. You need to go back to your room at the Myrrha Motel. Here, I found your key," she tossed it to him. "Let's go."

The trip back was silent but not without contemplation. Perhaps it was from being in a coma, but after a couple of minutes, Aiolos recognized her as Marin, the girl who was picked on and sometimes beaten up for being Japanese. While trainees picking fights with each other is to be expected, the fact that it got to the point where the wooden training dummies were treated nicer caused him to intervene. At first, his brother hung out with her out of pity, but after a week, perhaps due to her extremely clever nature, they became good friends, and the moment their training ends in the House of Sagittarius, Aiolia would zoom off to find his _tomodachi_.

He also remembered her having what was unofficially named, a very _fluid_ cosmos. He can't really explain it, but just like some people were simply born with a very strong cosmos, others have a different type, typically those from Asia, where it will start off rather average, but it quickly accelerates in power over time. The fact that she was ordering those two men like that suggested to him that perhaps Marin had moved up in the hierarchy of Sanctuary since meeting her years ago.

Marin tied the horse while Aiolos unhooked the wheelchair from the side and unfolded it. He eased it onto the ground and using his arm strength and a rope, he lowered himself into it. He watched as Marin began to walk over behind him, but he waved a hand and wheeled himself until he frowned and realized that the place had a door that was difficult to open and quick to close. Already he missed the blue handicapped button.

He looked at his key and was happy that she had the courtesy of getting a room on the bottom floor, but it was clear that the Gods were not done twisting his wrist. Right at the entrance, there was a single step that led into the other rooms that was about four inches high, big enough so that he couldn't just roll over it, but its singularity was enough to make his blood boil. His thoughts of ever confronting Saga starting to fade as he could imagine that all he had to do was stand at the House of Aries and moon him and he couldn't come close enough to do a damn thing.

The room was fairly simple with a small bed with a thick blanket, and an untouched desk that still had the breakfast menu carefully displayed by the complimentary bottle of water. Marin closed the door and finished it off with a loud roll of the deadbolt.

"Who are you?" she whispered loudly. "Is it _really_ you?"

He gave her an involuntary nod. If she was going to betray him, she had plenty of opportunity to do so.

Marin folded her arms and tilted her head. "Favorite food?"

He didn't quite expect a quiz, but considering he was probably dead to her for a couple of years, he can understand her doubt. "Calamari, grilled with a twist of lemon. I have it every Friday because my mother taught me that it is when it is the freshest at the market." He could see the surprise in her gesture, obviously pleased by his detailed answer. How could he forget? While it was good in Japan, he found it a bit on the salty side.

"What is the name of your bow?"

He pursed his lips. Marin had a tricky nature to her. He couldn't think of anything and since there were bits of memory that were cloudy he felt nervous giving her the wrong answer but he had to answer as honestly as he could. "It never had one; I just tell everyone it is the Sagittarius Bow. I never developed a favorite bow because I practice with them so much they tend to break in a week. I had a servant whose only duty was to craft replacements all the time." She gave him a dull stare this time as if she didn't want him to read her emotions. He wasn't sure if he gave her the answer she wanted, but he was fairly confident. He watched her pull out a piece of paper.

"What was Dad's name?" she read off of it.

Aiolos took a deep breath. He had a feeling that Aiolia must have asked her to ask him this. At least he knew that he wasn't dead. He debated whether to say anything, but if Aiolia trusted Marin to read this off, then he either already told her or trusted her to know. How bad was it, that this was one of his clearest memories. "My father's name was Adam. He died from a fall. Adam is listed on Aiolia's birth certificate but really, my father's brother, Elias took care of me and my Mother, they fell in love, married and Aiolia was born afterwards." It was a dark secret, one that not even Sanctuary knew and something that he told his brother not long before everything happened. He still remember Aiolia being a little shaken by it, but still accepted it. He watched her sit on the bed and using her cosmos to burn the sheet of paper in her hand.

"It is _you_." She came over and pulled off his hat, her eyes trailing from his head to the small surgical scars at his neck. "What happened? What happened to you? What happened to your hair?"

He told her as quickly but as thoroughly as he could. He told her about what happened in the Pope's chambers, Shura's follow up attack, the coma and its effects, his strange obsession and knowledge of Japanese anime that he never even watched, and the prognosis of his back. Even though he couldn't see her face, he could tell from her hands resting on her lap that she was listening intently to every word that he said. "So, what do you think?"

She turned her head, "So that's what happened." She sighed. "I felt the Pope was different, but I thought he just got a new advisor or maybe the incident with Athena was a wake-up call for him to fix what was wrong with Sanctuary."

"Different?" He paused. It wasn't quite the word he would imagine her saying. "How so?" She was silent as if afraid to go farther. "How did he feel _different_?" he repeated with a little more urgency.

"Things are… _better_ … _more organized… and more disciplined_." She kept her head tilted down. "Before finding out what he really did to you, I felt for once, I could… genuinely respect him. _I'm sorry_ …"

"You don't need to apologize for something you didn't know about," he replied. He remembered the slight changes that the Pope made before he tried to kill Athena. How ironic that the reason he came over to discover the horrible deed was to congratulate him on creating a budget that was in the black for the first time in three years. "I already sensed that when I saw the figures on the board. Plus, Saga is a genius when it comes to these matters." It was his turn. "How did you figure out it was me?"

"I didn't, _he_ did. He asked me to see what I could find and after examining everyone, you seemed to be the closest, but the wheelchair threw me off." She shook her head as if she was still shocked to see him like this. "It wasn't until you started going to _your_ corpse that I decided to approach you."

Aiolos began to notice that she was very careful not to mention his or his brother's names, like there was a sense of fear or uneasiness, despite how well things appear. "Where's my brother at? Is he coming over?" To his surprise, she shrugged.

"He's had it very difficult since what happened." She swallowed hard. "I need to go talk to him. You have to leave." She hurried out, pulling her hood over her head so quickly that she was like a strong breeze.

He then felt something familiar and moved over to the window. "Aiolia," he muttered. The difference in time didn't really strike him until he saw him. He was over a foot taller, with massive arms and a strong chest that was typical of Leo Saints. He was in amazing shape and for a moment, felt proud of how far he came along.

But there was no cheerful smile or bit of aloofness that came whether they were training in the House or camping in the forests. His cheeks were red; his eyes were dull and empty. He watched Marin run, holding her hands up, blocking each of Aiolia's steps. He gasped as his gentle brother grit his teeth, the two clearly engaged in a private talk through the cosmos. He could see that his brother feigned several strikes, as if threatening her to step aside, but Marin, strong willed as she was, called his bluffs. That was when he realized the purpose of bringing him here.

It was not for the two to meet and chat, it was that Aiolia was going to come there and kill him.

For a moment he felt a little cold, a sense of betrayal that he hadn't felt since Saga. His mind can only imagine what happened the moment that those soldiers found a simple Cloth and no body to go with it. They would probably go for his family since it was no secret that two of them were related. Hell, Aiolia would brag about it when he was kid about how his brother was a Gold Saint.

They probably thought that Aiolia was hiding him, demanding answers when he wouldn't have a clue. He knew that Marin was doing her best to confront Aiolia on one side of the building while leaving the way open for him to escape and blend into the safety of the many tourists outside, but that just wasn't in his nature. Aiolos pulled the latch and swung the window open. He watched the two turn to him, before he gave a small wave. He watched as Marin stared him down like he was a complete idiot while Aiolia widened his eyes before marching around to the other side.

Aiolos took a deep breath and turned his wheelchair around. He reached over and applied the brakes on his wheels, while Aiolia barked at the attendant to _go see a parade in ancient Greek,_ a special Sanctuary code that meant to leave for a couple of hours while someone of importance takes care of business. Marin followed behind, attempting to squeeze in between him and Aiolia, but his brother held out an arm to keep her from doing so. He could see Aiolia's eyes shift up and down from his chair to his face, trying to connect the fact that he was once his protective brother and Master. He could see how confused he was, almost as if he wasn't sure what to do. Aiolos knew he had to break the silence. "Aiolia, it's good to see-"

"SHUT UP!" Aiolia snapped. "Do you realize the hell they've put me through because I didn't know your fucking body was on a soft mattress in Japan?"

Aiolos could hear Aiolia's deep breaths, watching him throw his hands on his own face as if squeezing it was a way to keep him from crushing his pale neck. "You know, if I could, I wouldn't let them do anything to you, even at the cost of my life."

"Well…you're two years too late!" Aiolia laughter that followed was twisted with rage and sadness. "The first month, I defended you from sun up to sun down. _No, not him. My brother would never do something like this_. But they kept bringing up the fact that they had your bow, the only thing that made it worth a shit, was missing." He shook his head. "Second month, they began using anything…anything that wouldn't leave a mark. I kept hoping in my heart and praying to Athena you would come and make them stop, but you never came. Third month, I was singing whatever story that came into my head, just to make them stop! But none of them believed me." He grabbed the water bottle and threw it to the floor. "A year! I was held captive for a year!" He folded his arms. "They finally let me go, but not until they told me that because I...I could not do my duty of finding you to bring about justice, they used Galan, mutilated his face, threw a headband on, slapped a few pieces of the Sagittarius Cloth on him, and threw him to a mob the day after I was thrown into prison."

This struck Aiolos hard. "Galan," he muttered. He was his best friend, now with painful thoughts of the suffering he had to endure.

"Yes Galan," cracked Aiolia. "It wasn't quick either. Those people wanted to make sure nobody _dared_ touched their Goddess again." He narrowed his eyes. "Now you're back. Looking to claim your place in Sanctuary? Set up a Civil War? Make everyone kill the other because the fact that you are alive will disrupt all the good that the Pope has done?" He shook his head, folded his arms and turned away. " _Get out._ My Cloth is locked up in Sanctuary, I have to live in a fucking shack and I can't go without a day without being reminded that I am the brother of a traitor. I'm not going to lose what little dignity I have by beating up a useless cripple."

Aiolos looked at his back. There was a slight tremble and wondered if Aiolia was actually crying. He had lived and trained with his brother all his life, and knew that every word he said to him was filled with pent up rage and pain. He sat there silently and held his hands. "I'm sorry for what happened to you…"

"… _Shut up_ …" Aiolia hissed.

The Sagittarius Saint closed his eyes. As the old Pope would say to them, sometimes the most delicate approach is the bluntest. "The position of the Pope was the _last_ thing on my mind. I woke up and one of the first and only things I thought about was you. I knew trying to use the cosmos to contact you would put you in danger so I never tried. Coming here was dangerous, but it was worth it knowing whether you're safe or not." Aiolia still refused to turn to him.

Aiolos lowered his head, unsure what to say since each reply Aiolia made felt like a knife digging deeper and deeper. It was clear that his presence alone was just too much, no matter how much he wanted to see him. He reached for his brakes and pulled them up and began to push himself toward the door. He stopped and turned to Aiolia as he remained facing the wall. He didn't need the cosmos to see the obvious tension in the Leo's fingertips. Inside, he feared that Saga had him wrapped around his little finger. It wouldn't surprise him if Saga was holding Aiolia's Cloth as a means for Aiolia to _redeem himself_ should the dead rise again. Aiolos took his hand and placed it on his face. "No, he wouldn't…or…" Aiolos took a deep breath as he too became overwhelmed.

Fuck it.

The Sagittarius reached over for a piece of paper and the complimentary pen. He came there for his brother and damn it, he wasn't going to let fear let him lose him again. "21-6 Udagawa-cho, Shibuya, Tokyo," he said as he wrote.

He took the paper and placed it on the desk. "This is where I'm at now. Turn me in if it makes you feel better, or you can talk to me. Whether you want me to pay for the crime that I did not commit, regain your Cloth and honor or if you are willing to grant me any shred of forgiveness, I'll leave it up to you. Goodbye, brother, I'm glad I got to see you." He wheeled himself, ignoring the painful bump that followed from the one step.

 **To Be Continued…**


End file.
